Recently I attended a Peace Vigil for the Peoples of the Middle East which was presented by the Surrey Interfaith Council. I was delivering a message from our rector who is a Palestinian Christian and not able to attend as he was away. We learned from a handout that the "The Golden Rule" is the same no matter what religion you practice: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." or: "Do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you." and multiple other versions of the same admonition from all over the world, from every religion. It was a simple yet profound reminder that we are all one.
After the welcome, a Muslim boy gave the call to prayer, a Muslim prayer was translated, I shared Father Joe's message and prayer and a Hebrew prayer was offered up by our facilitator. We were encouraged to breathe deeply, to feel our feelings, to take responsibility for them and if we wanted to, to share them. We then heard stories of intense sadness, anger, wisdom, worry and faith. One person left, there were tears shed. We also heard many prayers from different faith groups. Our names were used, our faiths or our country of origin were named but not in a way to make us seem different from each other but to reaffirm our unity, our one-ness in the room. We didn't have a lot of time together but there was an opportunity for us to eat and talk amongst ourselves. The food was delicious and so graciously provided by various participants. We closed with a song.
I was happy to have attended, privileged even, to have been asked. The evening was expertly facilitated, perfect in length and all stories were heard and honoured. Many faith traditions offered words of comfort, words of peace. To witness the pain of others but also to hear intentions of goodness and unity was a gift to me at this time of immense strife and upheaval. It reminded me that kindness is always necessary; we truly have no idea what others have to deal with in their lives. It put a human face to the ever present media coverage of war but also gave me a glimpse of what could be. Even in the face of human suffering, it's there: hope.
