22nd May2009

Dear Faith House Family (May 2009)

by FaithHouseManhattan

~ by Bowie Snodgrass

June 1st will mark Rabia and my one-year anniversaries of working for Faith House. I was originally engaged as Christian Co-Leader for Faith House, and as Samir shared last month, am now completing my third month as Director. This year has been a blessed adventure in functionally developing and actively listening for what God is calling forth for this community.

This time last year, I had not yet met Rabia, our Islamic Co-Leader, or any members of her Sufi order, the Nur Ashki Jerrahi community (www.nurashkijerrahi.org). Two weeks ago, I went to their Thursday night ceremony of Dhikrullah and was amazed to see a dozen people there I had already met at Faith House. These relationships made me feel comfortable participating, as a novice and Christian, in their worship. To use a summer-time analogy, I mostly stayed close to the shore, feeling privileged to watch people I call friends swim out into the ocean!

This Saturday, for our twenty-forth (!) Living Room since our launch last September, Rabia and members of her Sufi community will be leading us in an “instructed” Dhikrullah, where we will be invited to learn why they do what they do and to participate, as we feel comfortable. This Living Room will prepare us for participating in the ceremony with the whole Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Community on Thursday, May 28th with Shaykha Fariha al-Jerrahi.  All details are in our NYC Weekly Update.

These events reveal the heart of Faith House: a safe space to experience another person or community’s loving relationship with the divine. The more I expand into the breadth of inter-religious discovery, the more deeply God calls me to delve into the treasures of my own tradition. This is true for many of us at Faith House.

What is the Faith House moment that touched your heart most deeply this year? Please share it with us in an email to info@faithhousemanhattan.org or in a comment on our website.

I would also like to introduce our Summer Intern, Leah Varsano, who will be with us for the months of June, July and August.

“Leah grew up in a college town in Western Massachusetts. She attended a performing arts high school where she spent most of her time doing theater, but she also played violin in a klezmer band at her Reconstructionist synagogue. She is currently a rising senior at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, majoring in Religion with a minor in Asian Studies.  She is the Social Action chair for the Vassar Jewish Union, and is a Jewish representative on the college’s Inter-Religious Council. She also volunteers with a nation-wide campus organization called Challah for Hunger. Leah recently spent five months in India, living with a host family and studying Hindu traditions and temple life. She was attracted to Faith House because of their emphasis on faith-based and community-oriented interfaith work. She’s looking forward to spending the summer learning about other religious traditions, meeting new people and exposing herself to new ideas, and helping Faith House get ready for the launch of their second year!”

May God continue to bless us and lead us,

Bowie Snodgrass
Director, Faith House Manhattan

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