Embracing “Holy Awkwardness” in Interfaith Experiences

Published by Episcopal Life Online “Bulletin inserts for Aug. 22 describe interfaith efforts at Faith House Manhattan”

By
Bowie Snodgrass

Episcopalians
are part of a Church with a long history of interreligious relations. The 2009
“Theological Statement on Interreligious Relations” from the Standing
Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations reminds us that
“prominent Episcopalians were involved in the first World Parliament of the
Religions in 1893.” To this day, there are myriad international, national, and local examples
of Episcopalians engaging in interreligious activities. 

In interfaith relations, whether we are involved as a
guest, host, or on neutral ground, there is at first a degree of awkwardness.
At Faith House Manhattan (www.faithhousemanhattan.org), “an experiential
inter-religious community that comes together to deepen our personal and
communal journeys, share ritual life and devotional space, and foster a
commitment to social justice and healing the world,” which I helped found in
2008, we embrace the gift of encountering God in the other as “holy
awkwardness” and an indispensable spiritual discipline of the twenty-first
century.

The story of the three visitors to Abraham’s tent
(Gen. 18:1–15) reminds us that hospitality and awkwardness often go hand in
hand.  Below is the story as told
in the Koran:  

Has the story reached thee,
of the honored guests of Abraham? Behold, they entered his presence, and said:
“Peace!” He said, “Peace!” (and thought, “These seem) unusual people.” Then he
turned quickly to his household, brought out a fatted calf, And placed it
before them . . . he said, “Will ye not eat?” (When they did not eat), He
conceived a fear of them. They said, “Fear not,” and they gave him glad tidings
of a son endowed with knowledge. But his wife came forward (laughing) aloud:
she smote her forehead and said: “A barren old woman!” They said, “Even so has
thy Lord spoken: and He is full of Wisdom and Knowledge.”(Surah 51:24-30,
translated by Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali)

In the Genesis account, Abraham has to hurry around after offering food to the
strangers, asking Sarah to make bread and the servant to prepare a tender calf.
In the Koran, Abraham becomes fearful when the guests do not eat the slain
calf. In both stories, the hostess, Sarah, laughs aloud when the guests
foretell that she will bear a son. Like Abraham bringing forth the fatted calf,
we long to share our treasures and have them appreciated.  But, how can we find a way forward when
we are afraid to offend? 

Faith House invites people to events, which are
designed to be a safe space to “experience your neighbor’s faith.”  We host Living Room Gatherings twice a
month with a leader who is deeply rooted in his/her tradition and a particular
theme,  where some learn about
their own tradition through the eyes of the other, and new friendships begin
and grow. We also practice being guests by going on field trips, where we step
out of our comfort zones and visit religious services around the city. 

Most people who come to Faith House are observant in a primary tradition and come to
Faith House to encounter other traditions, genuinely curious and convinced that
being interreligious is part of our future and something we need to figure out
together—appropriately, playfully, hopefully, and prayerfully—in this pivotal
time in history.

Phyllis
Tickle states in her book The Great
Emergence that “the two overarching, but complementary questions of the
Great Emergence are: (1) What is human consciousness and/or the humanness
of the human? and (2) What is the relation of all religions to one another—or,
put another way, how can we live responsibly as devout and faithful adherents
of one religion in a world of many religions?”

Tickle’s
second question is where I have directed my passion and work with Faith House,
recognizing that I am part of a larger phenomenon. A 2008 Pew Forum on Religion
and Public Life survey found that 70 percent of Americans believe that “many
religions can lead to eternal life,” while 83 percent of mainline Christians
shared this belief.

God is doing something new
and calling us to participate in different ways— through worshiping together,
interfaith dialogue, social justice and community organizing with people of
other faiths, and experiments in interreligious community, like Faith House
Manhattan.

God
knows our awkwardness, but blesses us anyway. Sarah did conceive and have a
son, and she named him Isaac, meaning Laughter, to remind her that laughter is
our response to holy awkwardness and a sign that God is “full of wisdom and
knowledge” beyond that which we can comfortably grasp. 

This essay is a condensed version of “Has the story
reached thee, of the honored guests of Abraham?” which appeared in the Winter
2010.

Bowie Snodgrass is Executive Director of Faith House
Manhattan and a member at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  Previously, she worked in the Office of
Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations and the Office of Communication at the
Episcopal Church Center.