InterFaith Council Prayer Vigil

I write the day after attending the Prayer Vigil to stand in support of our local Muslim community, and I am still reflecting on a number of images that I found deeply moving.

There was the opening by Rev. Cari Jackson of First Congregational Church (the host site of the event) speaking about the beautiful and wonderful face of God expressed by the fabulously diverse group of people gathered.

There was the haunting chant of Rizwan Khan citing from the Quran:  "do good to parents, kinfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the way-farer you meet (4:36 surat an-Nisa)." and then meeting Rizwan as a neighbor afterward and hearing his gratitude for such an event.

There were the powerful speeches by representatives William Tong, Gary Holder-Winfield, and Patricia Miller who understand bias towards others and expressed the need to stand together quite eloquently.

There was the final prayer of silence led by Kate Heichler who invited everyone to place a hand on the shoulder of the person next to him or her and physically connect and express solidarity while we prayed in our own ways from our various traditions.

There was the wonderful energy as people mingled afterward and reconnected with friends or connected for the very first time with those who were total strangers and now possess a name and new found relationship.

There was the e-mail buzz that followed as well.  Many more connections made that were not made before.  Programs with Jews, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and Buddhists strengthened and energized in a substantive and palpable way.

This event will not bring about world peace.  It will not end the tension that continues to exist in certain quarters over certain traditions, driven primarily by the extremists within the tradition.  It will not quell the fears that continue to well up within people and prevent them from distinguishing potential neighbor from enemy and engaging in the world with hope and courage.

What the event did, however, was take a small step toward greater understanding.  It reached out in hope to embody the vision God intends for us and to use that as our model and not the divisive and fear-mongering hyperbole and stereotype that keeps us cornered and cordoned off.  It represents the power of the good to stand amidst the difficulties and, standing together, take those first small steps toward a richer and fuller life for everyone.

In so many ways, our history is filled with this type of action.  The little things, the small steps, the inklings of possibility and hope that move us, however tentatively, down the road to the right thing, the good thing, a fuller understanding of God's face in our midst.  And to that, all I can say is, "AMEN."

Blessings. 

Mark