Hello, Friends! 
     Today I’m offering a snippet from an inspiring article in a recent issue of Christian Century, entitled “Three Faiths, Three Friends.”  It details the relationship of three religious leaders and their process of cultivating understanding in their Seattle community.  Rabbi Ted Facon, Sunni teacher Jamal Rahman, and Congregational Pastor Don Mackenzie have been working together for several years, and see some signs of growth, with much more work to do.
     “Recently, Mackenzie, Falcon, and Rahman reflected on who was shoing up at interfaith events and who wasn’t…(agreeing) that it is often easier to communicate across the lines of faith than …with members of their own traditions …suspicious of interfaith work.
….The three acknowledged …biases against conservative Christians, whom they tend to see as narrow-minded and prejudiced against Muslims.  In response, the three (known in the community as “the Three Amigos”) decided to attend together a service at … a megachurch in the Seattle area.
    During his sermon that day the pastor remarked that ’Christians and Jews share the same God, but Allah is a different matter.”  Mackenzie and Falcon both gasped.  After the service, Rahman, Mackenzie, and Falcon were invited to the pastor’s office.  Rahman used the occasion to say to him, ‘I don’t think Jesus would have said what you did about Muslims.’
The three men proceeded to work with members of the megachurch congregation on a Habitat project for a local Muslim family.
One important lesson, Rahman says, “was the recognition that while he, as a Muslim, feels wounded by the behavior of many Americans, he is not alone in that feeling:  many Christians also carry wounds.  By understanding this mutual woundedness, the Three Amigos say, they have become much more patient when they confront people who disagree with their interfaith work.  Instead of responding with anger or accusation, they try to ask more questions.
They used this insight when Rahman was asked by the director of an interfaith retreat center in Seattle to donate a copy of the Qur’an to be placed alongside the Bible and the Torah.   The proposal turned out to be controversial among the camp’s board members, so the idea was dropped—and the board ended up removing all holy books from the chapel, something the three were not happy about.  But instead of responding angrily and forgoing their association with the camp, the three have continued to try to meet with the board members to find a mutually agreeable solution.”
      This, my friends, is a wonderful example of how God’s wisdom is at work in our world, and of the magnificent peace-making, world-changing, spirit-saving energy we can harness, when we are attuned, committed, connected with others in the flow of divine creativity.
      I spoke on Sunday of my journey to discern positive, loving ways to respond to the destructive, inhumane rhetoric so endemic in our public discourse today.  I also want to be actively engaged with you in positive initiatives that foster deepening, meaningful, reconciling relationships in our community.
    I look forward to listening, learning, and growing with you this Sunday, and all our days to come.

Shalom,
Sarah