Wednesday, March 4, 2015

REVEALING THE INNER FACE OF INTERFAITH

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, poets must write if they are to be at peace with themselves.  What we can be, we must be.
        Abraham Maslow, Science and Spirituality, page 157

We are told by researcher and interfaith minister Linda Groff that there are five kinds of interfaith, going all the way from the willingness to dialog among people of different faiths who remain in their original faith, to those who no longer have a single faith among the religions and spiritual movements of the world.  What is arising from these five variations of interfaith is a separate movement that has a common identity.  People who have a particular faith and are open to interfaith participation may well find themselves closer to their interfaith associates than to their separate faith.  Others may find themselves equally at home in either setting.

What has been missing until recently in the world of worship services is the realm of interfaith.  Traditionally, you had to be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or some other faith in order to find a spiritual home.  No longer is this true.  Among various other efforts in this direction is our own effort, which is presently called Gathering of Creative Community.  We draw upon all of the faiths both in terms of the scriptures we use and the people who participate.  We have speakers from the different religions and from those who are not identified with a particular religion.  This gives us the flexibility to speak to what is closest to our hearts and souls. 

What is the inner face of interfaith?  It is the realm within us that allows us to be who we really are.  We are not constrained by the teachings of a particular religion, and therefore we are freer to rely on what we are given by our inner awareness.  It also calls us to listen carefully to those who present themselves to us, because new revelations are likely to be forthcoming.  We are free to express ourselves, and this gives us the opportunity to search for that new reality that is awakening within us.

There is a new kind of faith being born in the world, which has many shades and varieties.  It is in our openness to receive that new reality that gives hope and a deep sense of purpose for living.  Those who have discovered it are likely to live longer and to be healthier.  It is the Source of Life which is at the center of our Being.  It is what makes life worth living and the joy that carries us forward despite what happens in the world around us.  It is the strengthening of that reality among us that increases the strength of the emerging global civilization.

Spirit is One; paths are many!!!

C/o Unity-and-Diversity World Council, Inc.
P.O. Box 661401, Los Angeles, CA USA 90066-9201
Phone: 424-228-2087; FAX: 310-827-9187

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