FAITH HOUSE Manhattan

Our Latest Newsletter (June 23, 2009)

Cheers to the Faith House Family!

Faith House Manhattan's online presences (in the plural) have proliferated and blossomed this year! For example, 1800 of you are receiving this newsletter. The links below will give you an additional information about what is happening on this island called Manhattan, and provide ways for you to participate!

WEBSITE IS 2 ½ YEARS AWESOME

www.faithhousemanhattan.org is now 2 ½ years old, with Sabbath Poems, articles going back to January 2007, and even better content in the works. In addition, a new page listing all our Living Room Gatherings includes some titles linking to full outlines of that day's program. 

Participate! We invite you to engage our Living Room ideas online and adapt them for your local community ... or create new ideas and share them with us. Please comment on website articles and send Sabbath Poems or ideas for articles (and authors) to samir@faithhousemanhattan.org

WEEKLY UPDATE, FACEBOOK GROUP & MEETUP CALENDAR

Three easy ways to find out what's happening at Faith House: 

1) Keep up with our community gatherings. Subscribe to the NYC Weekly Update (along with 900 others!).  Each week, we send out a colorful email with upcoming Living Room gatherings and other events. 

2) Join our Facebook group (currently 123 members) to get invited to all Living Room gatherings, post and view photos and make comments on the Wall.

3) Find out about other wonderful, interfaith events in NYC on a Meetup calendar.  Anyone can view these events, or you can join Meetup and our group. You can also send events for the Meetup Calendar to info@faithhousemanhattan.org.

220 PHOTOS IN FLICKR GROUP 

Take a peak at Faith House in action.  There are 220 photos in our flickr group online.

Participate!  Are you a photographer? If you would like to take photos at one of our events, please ask a staff member before the event begins, then join our flickr group and add your pics.   

Photo above: Rabia leading Sufi Ceremony of Dhikrullah
Photo left: Jill and young people in a Sukkah they built, by Alvin Poblacion
Below: Postcard designed by Mairim Pina

ONLINE GIVING & OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT FAITH HOUSE

If you are already giving to those who are exploring the boundaries of your own religion and building bridges with "the other" in our interdependent world, keep up the good work! They need your support. If you are not investing into an interdependent future this way, join those who support Faith House with gifts of $5 to $200 placed in a basket at a Living Room, people who have made one-time gifts online from $10 to $1,000, and those who pledge 1%, 2 ½ or 5% of their annual income. During the recession we have paired down our budget more than 60% determined to come out alive and well on the other side!

Here are specific ways to support Faith House through tax-deductible contributions, and two ways to support Faith House online:

1) Our Facebook Cause has 171 members and 11 donors, who have contributed $1,260 to Faith House.  Join the cause and invite your friends.

2) Give directly through our Adventist Metro Ministries (AMM) website.  We are currently in the process of becoming our own 501c3, but are thankful that AMM has taken us under their umbrella in these early years of getting started. On the donation page, select "Faith House" for "My gift to go towards."
 
3) Support us offline by making an offering at a Living Room in our baskets or "snail mail" a check for Faith House Manhattan to P.O. Box 552, New York, NY 10028.  

4) If you are thinking about making a significant contribution, please talk to a member of the staff or our treasurer, Rod Colburn, or consider creating a legacy for Faith House by providing a tax-advantaged long-term support such as endowements or trusts.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

The Faith House staff is available to get together with you for tea and to hear your dreams, concerns, or answer your questions.  Email us samir@-, bowie@-, rabia@faithhousemanhattan to set up a time or share your thoughts with us in writing.   

You can also help us learn what your hopes and prayers are for Faith House by filling out a short questionnaire.

We believe God cares more about building a loving human community on earth than about anything else. We hope you will participate in building and growing Faith House. 

In faith,

Bowie Snodgrass & Samir Selmanovic
Faith House Manhattan

Dear Faith House Family (May 2009)

~ 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 (see whole list HERE), 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 Versano, 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

New Life

~ by Samir Selmanovic

This has been the longest winter in New York that I can remember. It is officially Spring now ... and soon we will see the blooms and blossoms. We look forward to seeing signs of life in many other ways, like being a better country, better believers, and a better humanity. New ideas, energies, and movements are still under the ground but the seeds are moist and will sprout in their time. Life always finds a way. Blessings to those of you who are Christians observing Lent and are waiting for Easter morning to break in!

Changes and new life are also underfoot in Faith House.

   1. After serving as Faith House Director I am transitioning to the role of Christian Co-Leader. This will better fit my gifts and skills, needs of my family, and my ability to work on the publication and promotion of my upcoming book this September.

   2. Bowie Snodgrass, after serving as Christian Co-Leader is now transitioning to the role of Faith House Director. She has been the heart and hands behind much of what we have done since our launch last Fall. I will assist her by working shoulder to shoulder with other co-leaders as we forge a diverse network of friends in the city.

   3. Jill Minkoff, our Jewish Co-Leader has to attend to her full time Rabbinical studies and her work at the Board of Jewish Education in New York City, so she is not staying with Faith House in this capacity. She will assist us as a supporter and advisor.

   4. We have a new face and passionate heart joining our team. Rabbi David Ingber from Romemu Congregation will serve as an acting Jewish Co-Leader. We are thrilled to sit at his feet and learn! Read his bio HERE.

   5. Rabia Gentile, a hub of kindness and calm for our team burning with the fire from above, will continue to serve as our Islamic Co-Leader.

Our seeds are in the ground. Thank you for watering us, and warming our soil by watching and praying over us.

List of All Living Room Gatherings - Now Online

~ by Bowie Snodgrass

A full list of our past (and a few upcoming) Living Rooms are now posted on our website (see column on the left), including the three previews last summer, fourteen gatherings in 2008, and bi-monthly Living Rooms since the start of 2009. Our Mission, Vision, and Principles say: "At this weekly gathering, we learn from others, share our stories, and organize our community to serve the common good. Together we explore human experience, holy days, spiritual practices, current cultural and societal issues, and the lives of inspirational people from the past and present."

Our regular attendance ranges from 30-45 people per week, of all ages, usually about 1/3 Muslim, 1/3 Christian, and 1/3 people of "all faiths or no faith at all," and all are welcome! Our "living room" ethos means that you are never asked to leave who you are at the door and are welcomed into a comfortable space where common courtesy creates "room" for us to share our treasures, struggles, stories, and traditions in community so we can all delve deeper into our shared reality of "living" together in a wonderful world of many faiths.

Currently, Living Room Gatherings are every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 5-6:30 pm in Intersections (274 Fifth Ave, between 29th and 30th St.). Please sign up for the Weekly NYC Update to hear about upcoming Living Rooms and other outings. 

Answering Christian Critics of Faith House (Part 3): Great Commission or Great Invitation

~by Samir Selmanovic

A thought experiment: let’s imagine the whole world has converted to Christianity. Every group professes the Apostle’s Creed, the classic statement of Christian belief. There are no mosques, synagogues, temples, or altars of any kind—just churches. Governments are run by Christians, corporations are run by Christians, all art is Christian. Every teacher of every school is Christian, every politician of every party is a Christian, every owner of every business is a Christian, every book, every movie, every event—all Christian. A question: “How does that make you feel?”

I suspect increasing numbers of Christians feel as scared about such a possibility as everyone else would. But to be a Christian should mean to strive to make this scenario a reality. The Christians’ mandate to go to the world and convert it is based on the last words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. Standing on a hill with a handful of His disciples, frightened and disoriented by the swirl of events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection, before leaving them, Jesus finished His call with the precious words of comfort, “Go and make disciples of all nations … baptizing them … and teaching them … And surely I am with you always, to the very end of age” (Matthew 28:19,20). Christians have dubbed this call of Christ the Great Commission. No commandment can be more important. Why then inside many of us who love Jesus does something recoil against the fulfillment of this mandate?

The most obvious hesitance comes from history. Christians have had the chance to organize communities, nations and even empires, and have been found wanted. But there is a reason that goes deeper. The world is interdependent. A multiplicity of atoms and variety of life forms are necessary for our world to exist and function. Nobody has life independently. Without the intrinsic and intricate complexity of all life, there would be no life. Reality itself is interdependent diversity.  None of us simply “exists;” we all “exist with.” Cut off the “with,” and there would be no existence for anyone one of us.

Every once in a while I go to Christian conferences, places where Christian leaders explore, evaluate, and equip each other for “impacting the world.” These days, my friends and I leave these conferences increasingly empty. I think it is because we are living under the assumption that while the world needs Christians, Christians don’t need the world. There is no reciprocity or interdependence. We don’t expect to be impacted. The world and its religions have been left out of God’s consideration to give them any significant commission to us. 

Something feels utterly wrong with a claim that we Christians are in charge of God. When Jesus told His disciples “And surely I am with you always,” did He also mean “And surely I am not with anyone else”? Does my mother’s love for me depend on her withholding love from my siblings? Does God’s saving presence among us have to mean God’s saving absence among them? For Christianity to be true, does every other religion have to be wrong?

Christians and Christian churches are not exempt from the dynamics of all known existence that allows nothing to be—let alone thrive—in isolation. Instead of designating the call of Christ as the Great Commission that establishes us as brokers of God to the world and Christianity as a form of God-management system, perhaps we should embrace the call of Christ as the Grand Invitation. 

Christians are sent to the world with an extraordinary message: the self-giving God calls humanity to self-giving love! However, instead of having a commission to bring God to the world, we are invited to the world where God already is, expecting us to bless the world with our teaching about Christ, as well as receive the blessing from Christ that is already in that same world. Not only to go, but to welcome; not only to teach, but to learn; not only to give, but to receive; not only to change, but to be changed. In a Great Commission, the world needs us and we don’t need the world. In the Grand Invitation, we humbly embrace our creaturehood. The Great Commission demands conversion from them; the Grand Invitation demands transformation from us all.

In an interdependent world, truth cannot be captured, portioned and delivered, it must be experienced relationally. Christianity is a religion, a window into the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of God itself. Jesus has repeatedly called us to enter this kingdom and sit at the large table, as Ananda K. Coomaraswamy says, “not to preside—for there is Another who presides unseen—but as one of many guests.” God is greater than us! For me, the Good News just got better!

(adopted by the author from Signs of the Times, Australia, June 2008)

Changes and Transitions

Change is in the air. It is a part of life. New births, life transitions, and growing pains are all around us. We have a new President of our nation. Our families, friends and communities are facing unprecedented challenges. It is during times like these that we are asked by life, by God, to find peace, to offer peace and to fortify our communities. Faith House Manhattan has also been going through a challenging period and I feel we have risen to the occasion and continue in our pledge to uphold and build an inter-dependent community.

Over these past few months we have moved our "home" to a new space, Intersections, a smaller and more intimate space filled with natural light and accessible to the street at 274 5th Avenue. At Intersections we will hold our Living Room gatherings every 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month. Every 1st & 3rd week, we will venture out to serve and learn from the larger community of New York City, through visits to various communities or sacred sites and by finding opportunities to serve.   

We have experienced staffing changes when our beloved Rabbi Jill Minkoff transitioned from her role as our Jewish Co-leader, as she continues her rabbinical school and takes on increasing responsibilities at the Jewish Board of Education. We were also honored to welcome into our circle the beautiful and inspired Rabbi David Ingber, who will very soon join us as our Acting Jewish Co-leader. Some of you may already know him as he has lead and participated in past Living Room gatherings, as well as organized the Hanukkah party this past December. You can learn more about Rabbi David on his website.  

With so much positive change and growth we feel blessed, though we have also been met with increasing financial challenges. In a recent interview, former President Bill Clinton beseeched the American people to continue to give to charitable causes. At Faith House Manhattan, we know first hand that with this economic downturn, charitable giving has decreased. While this is understandable, still many feel that in such a time of uncertainty, charitable giving is needed now more than ever. As you may know Faith House functions entirely on personal donations given from the community and we continue to appeal to you for your support. No amount is too small or too great. Thank you.

Love and prayers from Manhattan,

Juliet rabia Gentile
Muslim Co-leader, Faith House Manhattan

The Story of "God In the Other"

~ by Sheryl Fullerton (article from www.readthespirit.com)

It seems everywhere I look these days, there is talk of interfaith this or that, for or against. The impulse either to strengthen boundaries or breach them seems intense, maybe because of the general feeling that change is in the air, that an era is ending and we need new ways forward—or, as some feel, we need to do everything in our power to resist the changes.

It’s from such times of tension and uncertainty and passionate discussion that books are born. And that is the case with a new book we’re publishing next fall by Samir Selmanovic, tentatively titled for now “God in the Other.”

I remember when I first opened up Samir’s proposal. His opening statement hit me right between the eyes: “For years I’ve been talking about three monotheistic religions to nonbelievers. And here is what I hear: ‘At best, Jews, Christians, and Muslims look like three religious stooges in a slapstick comedy. At worst, they look like three brothers with hands clasped in prayer and soaked in blood.’ We have littered history with incredible amounts of stupidity, injustice and suffering. The world has simply had it with us. They are not listening anymore… Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have painted a picture of God that is difficult to admire, much less worship….Either monotheism will die, or evolve.”

When I read that, I nodded.

To continue reading The Story of "God In the Other" click HERE.

The Invitation Home (Part 2)

~ by Juliet rabia Gentile

(This is a continuation of the last week's article. To read Part 1 click HERE.)       

 Konya is a small industrial town set like a dusty jewel in the crown of Central Anatolia. It is famous and widely visited only due to the fact that it holds the tomb of Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi. Over the years since Mevlana Rumi’s death on December 17th 1273, a mystical order based upon his teachings called the Mevlevi order grew. The ritual practice called Sema that one associates with Mevlevis or whirling dervishes – think spinning figures in generous white gowns with funny tomb stone shaped hats whirling for hours - developed out of an incident in a marketplace right there in the town square in Konya. Everything that we know about Rumi has been preserved by his students and family members and can be found in the landscape or in the hearts of the people of Konya.

My flight from Istanbul touched down several hours late due to a burgeoning fog that wrapped itself around Konya’s empty streets like an old friend. Soon after my arrival the phone began to ring and plans mounted up. The celebrations in Konya were well under way despite the cold and fog: there was no time to rest!

It is tradition that Sufis gather together from across the globe every year for seventeen days leading up to the Shebi-Arus celebration which culminates on December 17th. This event known as the “wedding night” commemorates the time when Mevlana Rumi went to join his Beloved. The anniversary of his death is celebratory rather than somber. In fact Rumi wrote in one of his poems, “if you harvest the wheat growing over my grave and bake bread with it, it is sure to intoxicate!” So strong was Mevalana Rumi’s love for God that his fragrance still attracts lovers of all walks of life, religions and nationalities, some 800 years after his death, like bees to honey.

My first stop in Konya was the informal headquarters of the trip: Dervish Brothers Center. DBC was the place of beginning and ending of all journeys and adventures and was visited by many dervish sisters despite its name. It was a place to make and break plans, listen to music and poetry, sip endless cups of tea and have intimate discussions extending into the morning. Before long I had lost track of the number of dhikrs, impromptu musical gatherings, meals and endless prayer vigils I had attended. One highlight of historical importance was a Sufi dhikr held at the tomb of Shems i Tabriz (the mystic thought to be responsible for the full flowering of spiritual wisdom in Rumi’s adult life). This beautiful prayer ceremony which somewhat spontaneously coalesced after the afternoon prayer in the Mosque of Shems was well attended and miraculously accepted by the Mosque authorities, a quiet, though great victory for Sufi activity in Turkey.

One of curiosities of traveling to Turkey is that everywhere you go you encounter people and businesses selling Sufism and Sufi paraphernalia (not always authentic) to tourists, even while its practice is illegal under Turkish law. You may ask yourself why, at a time when Islam is weighed down with fundamentalisms of various stripes and colors, would anyone want to suppress an interpretation of Islam based upon the principle of universal love? Well, despite changing public and political opinion in favor of Sufism, its practitioners are still vulnerable to law enforcement, therefore making the beautiful that day a great triumph towards further opening the gates of understanding and tolerance. 

Perhaps more than any other lesson this journey to Konya taught me the importance of tolerance and understanding, even when I fell short. When you are in a strange country, speaking a new language the importance of open heartedness and true understanding become crystal clear. You become acutely aware of your utter dependence on the kindness of others and their willingness to cover your faults. It takes truth, sincerity and perseverance to navigate cultural divides and find common ground with the other in often difficult or awkward circumstances.

At home, surrounded by the comfort of “my family, my city, my country” it is easy to become complacent and intolerant. It is harder to extend a hand of guidance, friendship, or love. We think our lives don’t depend on it.

In a rapidly shrinking global world colored by increasing violence and polarization, perhaps now more than ever we are challenged to open, rather than shut down, to question and learn, rather than judge. This realization, which I experienced directly rather than ‘thought about’ was one of the most precious gifts I received from Mevlana Rumi and my journey to Konya. In the shadow of His light I witnessed the power of personal connection. The soul stirring invitation afforded by a warm glance, a smile, a prayer – signals that reach across language, race and religion.

In the airport on the way home we encountered that divine fog once again, hemming us in as we waited for hours in the small Konya airport. In the huddled masses there were various fellow pilgrims from England, Pakistan, South Africa and Iran. As the hours wore on and we shared stories, fruit, tea and tears it became crystal clear that we were all drawn to Konya from our various far-flung destinations for one reason: love.

Despite what shade our skin was, what language we spoke or what lives we were returning to, we were all, in our essential natures, one. In those hours of listening to the stories of my fellow pilgrims, the inner meaning contained in Rumi’s famous verses - the importance of extending the invitation of love to others, despite what we think of them - was revealed. This is true Godliness, this is the invitation Home.

"Come, come again
Whoever you are.
Pious one, infidel, heretic, fire worshipper.
Even if you promised a hundred times
And a hundred times you broke your promise,
This door is not the door
Of hopelessness and frustration.
This door is open to everyone.
Come, come as you truly are."

The Invitation Home (Part 1)

~by Juliet rabia Gentile

Since July my colleagues at Faith House Manhattan; Samir, Bowie, Jill, Lauralea and I have put much energy and thought into building a brick and mortar Home for people of all traditions or faiths, or of no particular faith at all. In early December, following a successful Faith House Living Room gathering entitled, Holy Journey: Hajj and Eid ul Adha, where we hosted various leaders from the Muslim Community in New York City, I departed to Turkey for both a personal, spiritual journey and a ground-laying expedition for an International Conference of Sufi women.

On the lengthy plane ride it dawned on me: Istanbul is my spiritual Home. Home is a laden word. For some it conjures happy memories and warm feelings while for others, like victims of violence or exile, the word signals profound grief and longing for what once was. Growing up in and around New York City, a place forever in flux and transition, the word has meant many things to me at different times. Over time I learned not to settle into one set notion of home. Therefore this thought came as a surprise. Perhaps all of us have at one point or another felt a longing for a physical home-land and similarly have felt a pull inward, a longing to find a personal sanctuary, a spiritual home to bring peace, balance and rooted-ness to our life.

Being a student of mysticism I have been taught to seek and find this center in the locus of my “heart.” Called qalb in Arabic and gunul in Turkish, the heart I speak of is not the physical heart but your emotional center where your soul resides, where one’s true essential humanity is to be found. The door to this home is always open, the entrance always immediate.

Despite this fact, on this bitterly cold day in early December I was decidedly on an outer journey into space and time. I was set to arrive in Istanbul, Turkey for a few days and then make my way to Konya, in Central Anatolia, for the Shebi-Arus (literally, wedding day) festival in honor of the poet Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, known as “Rumi” in the west. This trip was a long anticipated pilgrimage which I had dreamt of for years.

Islamic tradition relates that the Awliya or (Saintly friends of God) never spiritually die and therefore old cities like Istanbul and centers of spiritual learning, like Konya –places where many Awliya lived and died, are potent places to visit. Therefore I always prepare spiritually and mentally to receive whatever teachings these visits have to offer. You could say I use these travels as litmus tests or sign posts for my own spiritual journey. Spiritual pilgrimage in all traditions is like a continual Sabbath, a state in which your mind and heart are at peace and open to receive the treasures placed before you by God. In this state of openness, every person you meet, every place you visit has something to teach you.

When I arrived in Istanbul, the city was windswept and subdued by rain. The streets were virtually empty as people took a much needed rest after a week of Eid ul Adha (feast of sacrifice) celebrations. That first morning I met up with a young dervish (spiritual initiate), Kemal, who is a life-long member of the Halveti-Jerrahi Sufi order (a Sufi order founded in the 17th century in Istanbul). That day Kemal took me around to some of the sights of Istanbul including Topkapi Palace, which holds Holy relics of the Prophet Muhammad and my favorite Tea garden, the ‘Mystic Water Pipe.’ I ask you where else one can sip Turkish ‘cay’ and smoke a ‘narguila’ (a popular water pipe for scented tobacco in flavors ranging from rose to mint) all the while surrounded by floor to ceiling carpets, lamps and stray kittens cozying in warmth? This is perhaps the best way to adjust to a slower pace of life and to take in the ambience of the old world. After a few days of paying my respects and sending salams to the various Sheikhs of different Sufi orders and branches, it was time to prepare for the real adventure. I was soon to depart to that blessed city, Konya that I had long heard about and longed to visit. What I would find there, of course, defied my expectations and proved to be a memorable and life-changing experience.

(for Part 2 click HERE)

The Future of Our Beginning

~ by Samir Selmanovic

We started with much dreaming, many, many conversations, and meticulous planning. No house, however, can be built on blueprints alone. We are in the middle of hands-on work; brick by brick, one week at a time, one caring act at a time, one friendship at a time. The integral part of our house construction project is securing financial resources. To learn about our House Warming Campaign and to show us some love click HERE.

In the midst of this work, however, the vision must never slip away from our hearts or fade from our horizon. I write poems to help me personally stay the course. I hope you enjoy this one.

THE FUTURE OF OUR BEGINNING

I came from the same womb you came from.
Hope, like fluid, was shared and not my own.
Same food, same air, same love, same
warm caress of the future unknown.

I came from the same womb you came from.
With our birth, greed was born, and then blood drawn.
God's water broke and I slid out with you
from a nucleus of love into a nuclear dawn.

Now our hands and legs are intertwined again.
If you push there, something here will have to give--
whatever you do now matters again--
if you bless there, something here will live.

Please search your story and find me there.
Doubt, break the rules, touch the source,
touch the bottom of your well and rediscover
God who does not favor you and yours.

I came from the same womb you came from.
And now I stand on my, and you stand on your tower.
Let us walk down,
to the beginning, when it was Us and Our.

Thank you for reading, loving, dreaming, supporting!

House Warming of Faith House

We have opened the doors of the house! Join us as a household member, a visiting neighbor, a distant family member, or a traveler stopping for respite. With our shared talents, time, ideas, and financial contributions, we can make this dream continue and expand. By giving during our "House Warming" phase you are acting as one of our prime movers: the individuals, families, and organizations that are willing to imagine, take a risk, and begin. Prime movers generate, invent, and persevere through the ups and downs of a journey towards accomplishing something that matters. While most people embrace an idea when it is reasonable, safe, and prudent, prime movers are willing to look into the future and live it now, arranging their lives and resources in a way that allows them to create something new. Click HERE to read more about our exciting House Warming Campaign and show your support. In addition, you, your family, or your organization can sponsor a Faith House Living Room! You can sponsor a Living Room in your name, anonymously, or "in honor" / "in memory" of others. You can select a session or date that is meaningful to you and have your contribution acknowledged. We are committed to operating our finances with integrity and accountability making sure that your generosity yields sweet fruit for this world. 10% of all individual donations will be used to build bridges with other organizations that support the mission and vision of Faith House. This is an experiment in creating a thriving inter-dependent community in a way that is scalable, replicable, and improves the lives of people in this city and around the world. In faith and with gratitude for your support, we look forward to your participation and friendship. Faith House Manhattan community

Religious News Service Features Faith House Manhattan

Pastor creates interfaith church where `Christians are not in charge’ (By Nicole Neroulias)

Leta Selmanovic, 10, helps hand out informational cards about Faith House Manhattan, a weekly interfaith gathering led by her father, Samir Selmanovic. Religion News Service photo by Nicole Neroulias.

NEW YORK -- A Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist and an atheist walk into a prayer meeting.

Any number of punch lines could follow, but the members of Faith House Manhattan have serious business in mind: creating a spiritual community for people from any -- or no -- religious tradition.

The fledgling group of about three dozen regular participants is overseen by Samir Selmanovic, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor for whom interfaith ideals come naturally: He describes himself as an "atheist Muslim" who converted to Christianity during his military service in the former Yugoslavia.

"I wanted to build a church where Christians are not in charge," he explained after a Saturday afternoon gathering of Jewish prayers and Beatles music. "We wanted to include all the people who have a right to belong and be partners in the discussion, not as outsiders that need to be converted, but as insiders that we need to be interdependent with."

Similar interfaith centers are on the rise across the country, according to the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, which reported a surge in the years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There are now more than 550 such groups in America, with the largest numbers in New York, California, Massachusetts and Illinois.

In addition to easing religious tensions and encouraging joint philanthropic and community activities, Pluralism Project spokeswoman Kathryn Lohre said, these groups create new roles for women, which has been the case for Faith House.

TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE BY RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE CLICK HERE.

Answering Christian Critics of Faith House (Part 1): Cherishing the Gold of the Golden Rule

~ by Samir Selmanovic

We have come to a time in history when religion is involved in more killing than any time since the Crusades. According to the United States’ State Department, more than 70 per cent of world conflicts are fueled by religion. Although most of these conflicts have dynamics that are fundamentally economic, environmental or political and would have happened outside of a religious context, religion is still partly to blame. The question all religious people need to be agonizing over is “How can religion become a bulwark against violence, injustice and oppression, instead of an ally?” This question applies to our personal lives, family lives, workplace, citizenship, art, politics, everything. And no religious person can afford to ignore it.

To Christians, like to all religious people, some things matter deeply. These convictions vary in substance and expression but through their uniqueness hold our communities together. Our religious imagination spurs us to proclaim our unique message to the world and work hard to embody this message in the way we live. Yet our aspirations have not protected us from harming others. What can we do to withstand the destructive economic, environmental and political forces around us? And more importantly, what can we do to protect the world from our own good intentions?

If all we want to do is tell others what we think they need to know or change them into who we think they should be, we as Christians—or religious people in general—will inevitably stop treating people as subjects with whom we relate and begin to treat them as objects—no matter how noble our intentions. Some years ago, while pastoring a church in New York City, our cause was to reach people in the city and offer them what we have experienced as the best thing in life—God. One of the ways we did that was by organizing a series of public meetings that would convert people.

In order to accomplish this, the church board would meet regularly to discuss the strategy. Meeting after meeting however, I felt uneasy about talking of people as objects to be targeted by our efforts. However, such talk was so deeply rooted in some of the members’ psyche that none of my pleas against objectifying people came through. So I decided to bring two of these “objects” to the next meeting.

“OK, let’s discuss how we are going to convert these people in their presence,” I invited everybody. Some thought I was making a circus out of the meeting, but I persisted. For several church board members, this was nothing but a difficult evening. But for others, this experience was a door into new relationship, not only with people outside our religion but also with God. The language changed. The tone changed. The goals changed. The methods changed.

For me personally, as a Christian, everything changed. While Christ tells me to go out to the world and spread His teachings, He also teaches me that the primary way to do so is to treat others the way I want to be treated (see Matthew 7:12). This command, which has come to be known as the Golden Rule, excludes making other people the object of my best intentions. This is at least a part of the core, if not the heart, of the Christian message. I would not want to be objectified by their efforts to convert me, so they should not be my objects either.

To follow the Golden Rule, I need to learn compassion—meaning to “feel with.” As such, the Golden Rule turns the tables on many of our religious impulses. If we want them to attend our events, we must attend their events. If we want them to be spiritually open to us, we must be spiritually open to them. If we want them to change, we must be ready to change. If we want them to read our Scriptures with trust and respect, we must read their Scriptures likewise. We are interdependent.

And this can be expanded to the national and international level. Imagine all Muslims treating converts to Christianity the way they want Christian converts to Islam to be treated. Imagine Christians reciprocating. Imagine faith leaders standing up to politicians saying, “Your enemies are not our enemies. Any method you want to use on them, you will first have to use on us.”

If we want to convert people, we must be “convertible” first. Concerned believers would say that to live such open Christianity would first undermine our Christian identity and then halt the impact of Christ’s teachings in the world. I passionately disagree. To respect others, to be interdependent, to receive, to refuse to be in charge of God, to be humble and teachable by them, is to be our identity.

As we go to the world with our message, to neglect the Golden Rule would be to betray the teachings of Christ from the start. I would say that the following stands: “To be a Christian means, among other things, to seek God in the other as you want the other to seek God in you.” Just imagine, as Karen Armstrong suggests, if we would interpret the whole of our Scriptures as a commentary on the Golden Rule and read the whole of their Scriptures with Augustine’s rule of always seeking the most charitable interpretation of the text. Not only would this reflect the best of our traditions, but it would paradoxically work to preserve our own religion. 

The Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism are a case in point. The Chinese government has built a train from Beijing to the small Tibetan holy city of Lhasa and has committed demographic aggression, not only by settling twice the number of Chinese in Tibet than there were Tibetans, but by opening 238 dance halls and karaoke parlors on the main street along with 658 brothels, turning Lhasa into an Asian Las Vegas. To top it off, the sacred Potala Palace, which has been home to nine Dalai Lamas, is now mockingly surrounded by an amusement park. 

And what was the response of Dalai Lama? He refused to call the Chinese an “enemy.” In fact, to preserve the value of compassion at the root of the Golden Rule, for the Dalai Lama it hardly matters whether the position of Dalai Lama, Tibet or even Buddhism continue to exist! For the sake of compassion, no sacrifice would be too great. Isn’t that what Jesus Christ was about?

And what is the result? In 1968 there were two Tibetan Buddhist centers in Western countries; today, there are 50 in New York City alone, and 200 in Taiwan. More French people call themselves Buddhist than Protestant or Jew. Not to count all the Chinese who are becoming Tibetan Buddhists.

The Dalai Lama said that calling others your enemy and calling your own people friends would be as crazy as calling your right eye your ally and your left your adversary. It used to be that victory could be identified as destruction of your enemy, but in today’s world, we increasingly have to see destruction of our enemy as destruction of ourselves. The Golden Rule is not just nice thing to practice, a mere virtue. It is a matter of survival, not only for the world at large, but for every religion that has aspirations to thrive in the future. By respecting and loving the other, we are open to the influence of The Other. Going deeper in loving God, now means nothing less than going deeper in loving all of humanity.

(from Signs of the Times, Australia, May 2008, adapted by the author)

What does Faith House want to become? And how?

~ by Staff, Advisory Council, and Launch Team of Faith House

Our dear supporters, friends, and well-wishers, we are excited to introduce to you our dreams. Many thanks to those of you who have helped us say what we carry inside. Here is the statement of Mission, Vision, and Principles of our community. Pray for us, advise us, support us! Thank you!

MISSION:  To be a thriving inter-dependent community.

LEARN FROM OTHERS
We are a community that discovers “the other” (individuals or groups other than our own).

SHARE YOUR STORY
We honor and learn from the teachings, practices, sufferings, and joys of people from different faiths (religions, worldviews, philosophies, and belief systems).

HEAL THE WORLD
We come together to deepen our personal and communal journeys, learn to live with our differences, and contribute to the wellbeing of the world.

VISION: To participate in development of a holistic society where people from different faiths understand, respect, and protect one another, uniting to improve communities around them.  In order to achieve this vision, we are beginning and growing six aspects of our local community in New York City:

1. Living Room Gathering
At this weekly gathering, we learn from others, share our stories, and organize our community to serve the common good. Together we explore human experience, holy days, spiritual practices, current cultural and societal issues, and the lives of inspirational people from the past and present.

2. Study of Texts and Traditions
These sessions delve into the formative texts and traditions of a particular faith. People from all traditions are invited to participate so that all can learn through the eyes and experiences of the other.

3. Intergenerational Programming
Care and programs for the life cycle permeate our community. Infants, children, youth, adults, and seniors all contribute, bless, and benefit from our life together.

4. Service, Personal Wellness, and Ecological Sustainability
Separately or in synergy with other organizations, Faith House provides opportunities to serve and make a lasting difference in the lives of the poor, oppressed, and neglected in New York City and globally. Faith House also seeks to supports its members in living healthy lives, promoting sustainability, and caring for earth's resources.   

5. Community Building and Cultural Events
Periodically Faith House members or groups present and host events and activities outside our regular programming in order to connect with each other and with the life of our city.

6. Generous Giving and Financial Accountability
To support our community and its mission, we ask members and friends of Faith House to contribute regularly and generously. In turn, Faith House maintains mechanisms of financial accountability, and it pledges 10% of its income from individual donors to support religious or community organizations that help Faith House fulfill its mission.

PRINCIPLES: To guide our relationships and the life of our community, these principles of inter-dependence describe not what we hold as sacred or central but how we hold it.

1.    FIRST THINGS FIRST: We use our faiths to serve the life of the world.

2.    SHARING LIFE: Faith House is a spiritual home where we celebrate our friendships, life events, and accomplishments as well as grieve over our wrongdoings, disappointments, and losses.

3.    COMMON JOURNEY, DIFFERENT PATHS:  We are sojourners who acknowledge that every faith has its own story, calling, and mission.

4.    GENEROUS BELIEF: We believe that our faiths can always grow deeper and that none of our religions, worldviews, philosophies, or belief systems no matter how true, beautiful, or powerful, can ever contain all wisdom, blessing, or power.

5.    RE-INTERPRETATION: We continually seek deeper levels of understanding by interpreting and re-interpreting our texts and traditions.

6.    GRACIOUS COMMUNICATION:  We do not insist that others have to change their language or categories in order for us to hear them, while we seek to translate our concepts to those outside our traditions.

7.    GIVING THROUGH RECEIVING: We strive to learn more than to teach as we are called to receive, discern, and value what others have to give us.

8.    NEW MEMORIES, NEW HISTORY: We name and acknowledge the harm done to one another throughout history and move beyond into a future of healing and inter-dependence.

9.    FREEDOM FROM FORCE AND FREEDOM TO CHANGE: We do not believe in proselytizing; we believe in personal choice and transformation.

10.    POST-CYNICISM:  We believe a new kind of community is possible.

Academics and Faith House

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Ever since Professor Jon Paulien and other faculty from Loma Linda University initially inspired me to take this journey off the maps, I have met some trail-blazing academics who have added to the fire. Foremost among them is Professor Paul Knitter from Union Theological Seminary and Rabbi Or Rose from Hebrew College in Newton, MA. Their exceptional writings have been outdone by their personal, warm, constructive, and tireless spirits. We shared a teaching experience at Envision 2008 conference at Princeton University earlier this year, organized by another inspiring and spirited professor, Peter Heltzel from New York Theological Seminary. And now as more opportunities to teach together in New York City appear, we find ourselves excitedly talking at the same time about this expanse of the sacred that does not know boundaries made by humans. At times, I feel like a beginner on a very long journey, seeing no more than three feet forward, sitting down with people who have been scanning the horizon for many years.

So, I am glad to report that this week Faith House has received wholehearted endorsements from Professor Knitter and Rabbi Rose. You can find an article about some aspects of their work, as well as some information about Rabbi Justus Baird from Auburn Seminary, who is a member of our Advisory Council, in a recent article by Sojourners magazine entitled Many Mansions: Seminaries Teach for a Multifaith World.

"This is exactly the kind of inter-religious dialogue that we need today! For too long, “dialogue” has been primarily the business of academics and religious leaders. Without in any way neglecting sound knowledge and respect for tradition, Faith House seeks to bring the meeting of faiths (and non-faiths!) into our living rooms, workplaces, and local neighborhoods. It shows that people who share the same neighborhood and city can also share what keeps them alive spiritually. And in the process they become better neighbors and better citizens. My hope is that Faith House will become 'Faith Houses' all across our city and country."

Paul F. Knitter
Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture (short bio)

"Faith House Manhattan is a noble undertaking that seeks to bring together people from different faith traditions to heal our broken world. This innovative project serves as a model of creative and purposeful inter-religious collaboration."

Rabbi Or Rose
Director of Interfaith & Social Justice Initiatives at Hebrew College in Newton, MA
Rabbi Oris the co-editor of Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice and God in All Moments: Spiritual & Practical Wisdom from the Hasidic Masters (both from Jewish Lights Publishing).

Finally THE LAUNCH! (Sep 27 to Nov 1)

With more than a year of hard work behind us, we are at the threshold of something entirely new. Thank you for being a part of this adventure.

Please help us spread the word to New Yorkers!  Four steps:

1. Check out the invitation below and the titles. 
2. Think constructive thoughts and/or say a prayer.
3. Forward this digital card to anyone you know in the New York City area that might be interested.
4. Feel good about participating in healing the world!

What is a Living Room gathering? At this weekly gathering, we all come together to learn from others, share our stories, and organize our community to serve the common good. Together we explore human experience, holy days, spiritual practices, current cultural and societal issues, and the lives of inspirational people from the past and present.

Hello, Shalom, Salaam, and Peace of Christ to all!

Regular Location: Subud Chelsea Center, 230 West 29th Street, (between 7th and 8th Avenues)

Location on Oct 18: Intersections, 274, Fifth Avenue, (between 29th and 30th Street)

The promotional card and this modified digital version was designed by Mairim Pina. The drawing is the original artwork of our Jewish co-leader Jill Minkoff titled Tikkun Olam (Repairing and Healing of the World). Also, notice that the gathering on Oct 18 is at a different location.

Preview Gathering 2.0: At Home in Manhattan, Heart of the Empire

~ by Bowie Snodgrass

“Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.” - Wikipedia

One goal for Faith House is to be a place where we root ourselves deeper into our respective texts and traditions while interpreting them for our particular context. The other goal is to have a gathering with a "living room" feel, a space where we can come as we are to encounter each other through sharing, listening, and finding God through our religious practices and experience.

We want to be a place where we can have community conversations about how we live our lives, including the realities of life in Manhattan. This second preview was designed along the lines of what Johny Baker calls “Worship 2.0 – creative, highly participative, valuing community as the content, open source, low control where the expert worship leader is replaced by teams self publishing creative content.” The title of our interactive conversation was – At Home in Manhattan, Heart of the Empire – a little like a Zen Buddhist koan (i.e. "a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline" - Britannica.com).

As people arrived at the SuBud Chelsea Center in mid-town Manhattan, they munched on berries and veggies, learned about Faith House, had time to mingle and check out various stations set up around the space. Rabia, our Muslim co-leader, called us to prayer with a gorgeous, traditional Muslim adhan. When she finished, I opened my eyes to see that people had come to sit in the circle of chairs and gathered together in the main space. Samir welcomed everyone and shared some of his personal journey towards Faith House and then we began with the Jewish Sh'ma, the Christian Lord's Prayer, the Muslim Al-Fatiha, and an inspiring reading from the Hindu Rig Veda.

I expressed our hopes for this time together – namely for people to have individual insights into their conceptions of home and empire (particularly as those two concepts relate to their relationship with NYC and the USA) and learn what these words might mean to others.

We began with fifteen minutes to explore six stations. There was no correct order or required number to visit. These stations were not about completing a checklist, but rather means to "check in" with yourself, encounter new ideas, reflect, or whirl like a dervish! One station was in fact called WHIRL: a room where Rabia was giving 1-minute whirling lessons, along with her friend Aishah, and an iPod hooked up to a set of speakers.

In the front hallway, was the WRITE station, asking people to share whatever words or thoughts came to mind. On a piece of paper with the word EMPIRE, people added: "scary and dehumanizing," "domination," "temporary," "every empire shall end." By USA: "a noble ideal too often compromised." Next to NYC: "my 1st love," "love hate relationship," "is my home… at the moment." And alongside HOME, people wrote: "acceptance," "growth," "happiness," "shelter," "safe," "a context in which I can express my whole self freely."

An ART station provided magazines and catalogues for collages. Our "home" collage featured Manhattan skylines, fancy home décor from catalogues, little kids jumping around, and pop-culture icons alongside eccentrically attired women. A second collage was assembled atop a map of the USA. One person pasted a red path from Southern California to NYC and someone else cut a yellow heart jaggedly in two, putting one half on Manhattan and the other in Washington State. Others added imagery or headlines that related to the wall along the Mexico border and the hope of getting past our racial and political divisions.

There was a station to READ: with a Jewish "Prayer for Our Country", Psalm 137:1-5 (Jewish Tanakh), Matthew 6:25-34 and Ephesians 6:10-18 (Christian Bible), Al-Baqarah 2:21-22 (Qu’ran), Tao Te Ching Chapter 54, definitions of "Empire" from Wikipedia and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, and an insightful article by Reza Aslan called "The War for Islam" from the Boston Globe.

Near the food, there was a station asking WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR, with cards to fill out by introducing yourself to someone you don't know and asking their name and why they came to the gathering. Our final station was a place to PRAY by tying a strip of cloth onto a branch, a practice from Zen Buddhism.

After a quarter of an hour exploring the stations, we asked people to sort into four self-selected groups, based on shapes: circle, square, squiggle, and triangle. We had wonderful conversations for another twenty minutes and as might be expected… the circles embraced common ground, the triangles talked about change, the squiggles wandered through many topics, and the squares spent half their time discussing their discomfort with the lack of structure during the time for stations. People shared many thoughts about their notions of home and empire and this wild and wonderful city called New York.

When we came back together as a full group, a spokesperson from each small cluster shared some highlights from their small group, after which, we opened the floor. Although the afternoon began with people’s various responses to the idea of an American empire, it ended primarily with personal reflections on “home”… having multiple homes, being bi-national, being transient, the loneliness of New York City, and the freedom of home as a place where one can "sign and dance naked!"

As our time wound down, we transitioned from conversation to prayer. People prayed silently and shared prayers publicly, ending with the utterance, "this is my prayer." The group was invited to echo back, "this is our prayer."

We had planned to end our time together with a celebratory nigun, a wordless sung prayer from the Jewish tradition (a melody with consonants like lai, di, dai), and dancing. However, our Jewish co-leader's father had passed away the previous week and she was with her family during a time of mourning, so in respect and solidarity, we played a haunting recording of an acappella soloist singing the Alter Rebbe's Nigun while we sat, stood, or knelt together (listen to an alternate recording, piano version, on YouTube).

When the song ended, Samir gave announcements, and people mingled, ate, and helped break down the space. By 7 pm, we were all back on the street again, heading home, to city events, or out with friends.

Our evaluation forms asked people to share an insight they had from the day. One person commented that the "existential struggle with elements of [one's] self parallels the challenge of coexisting with community, as well as the struggle of creating home/empire on a more macro-level." Another person said, they realized that “other people feel ‘home-less’ in the way I feel.” And others said: "we find home in each other."

These are our prayers. Can I get an Amen?

Please use the comment area below (a Web 2.0 feature) to contribute to this conversation. What were your impressions of our second preview? What are your thoughts on being “at home in Manhattan, heart of the empire”?

The Other: The Origin and Meaning of the Term

~ Zane Yi was raised in the Christian tradition and is fascinated by the interplay of philosophical and theological thought through history. He teaches and studies philosophy at Fordham University, where he is a graduate student. Zane and his wife, Angela, live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

If you’ve browsed this website, you’ve most likely come across the frequent use of the term “the Other.” You may have wondered, “What does it mean? Where does it come from?”

The term has been developed by European philosophers and came into usage through the work of Jewish/French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995), an extremely influential, some might call quintessentially “post-modern”, thinker. Levinas fought in World War II, taught philosophy at the University of Paris, and is also known for his Talmudic scholarship. Levinas’ extensive writings are permeated with this term, but are notoriously hard to digest. Here is a short overview of the meaning of the term.

According to Levinas, when we encounter another human being, the face of the Other speaks to us and ethically obligates us.

The innovative nature of this claim becomes more evident when Levinas’ thought is compared with the thought of a Frenchman that is more familiar to many people--Rene Descartes. In his quest for absolute certainty, Descartes infamously describes his method of radical doubt. One must doubt everything—the beliefs inherited from one’s parents and teacher, and even one’s own senses!  After demolishing this shaky edifice of beliefs, one can reconstruct a stable building of knowledge built from indubitable facts.

What is the indubitable and, therefore, foundational fact? Descartes claims that he cannot doubt the fact that he is doubting. “I think, therefore I am,” he purportedly claimed. Starting from this point, one begins to work one’s way to other certain facts.

Following Descartes’ lead, many philosophers seem to think that the primary task of philosophy is an epistemological or metaphysical one. What we desire most is absolutely certain knowledge. How do I know that the external world and others exist? (Believe it or not, philosophers have spent much time and energy trying to answer this question!) With the proper method of acquiring knowledge (epistemology), one can ascertain what is real (metaphysics).

Ethics, or “practical philosophy”, is a secondary concern; “knowing” (epistemology) and “reality” (metaphysics) take priority. Once we know what is real, we can find out what is good and right. Furthermore, figuring out the good and right is reduced to the derivation of principles or maxims from abstractions. 

In contrast to this, Levinas treats ethics as a "first philosophy."  According to Levinas, we are immediately aware of the Other through our encounters with him/her (and their "face") and the Other places obligations of care and respect on us, before we begin to theoretically speculate on things, people, life, truth, ourselves, or anything at all! This obligation towards the Other cannot be reduced to linguistic formulations and commands, and transcends race, gender, or religion.

Levinas’ innovative claim is powerfully illustrated by one of my professors, Merold Westphal, who uses an excerpt from Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front to help readers understand Levinas’ insight.

The following is taken from Westphal’s new book Levinas and Kierkegaard in Dialogue (p. 3-4). (The pagination is from Remarque’s book.) 

On a foray between the trenches, I have become separated from my comrades and have found refuge in a crater filled with water and mud. Suddenly a question occurs to me. "What will you do if someone jumps into your shell-hole? Swiftly I pull out my little dagger, grasp it fast and bury it in my hand once again under the mud. If anyone jumps in here I will go for him...stab him clean through the throat, so that he  cannot call out; that's the only way; he will be just as frightened as I am;  then in terror we fall upon another, then I must be first"  (184).

As suddenly as the question arises, a body falls on top of me. "I do not think at all, I make no decision--I strike madly home, and feel only how the body suddenly convulses, then becomes limp and collapses. When I recover myself, my hand is sticky and wet. The man gurgles....It sounds to me as though he bellows....I want to stop  his mouth, stuff it with earth, stab him again, he must be quite, but [I] have  suddenly become so feeble that I cannot anymore lift my hand against him"  (185).

Overcome by the desire to get away, I move as far away as possible in the shell-hole, watching and listening.  Morning comes, and the gurgling continues, drawing first my unwilling gaze and then my whole body is a crawling journey to the side of the dying man. "At last I am beside him. Then he opens his eyes. He must have heard me, for he gazes at me with a look of utter terror. The body lies still, but in the eyes  there is such an extraordinary expression of fright that for a moment I think  they have the power enough to carry the body off with them...the gurgle has  ceased, but the eyes cry out, yell, all the life is gathered together in  them....The eyes follow me. I am powerless to move so long as they are there" (187).

When I am finally able to move, I strain some muddy water from the bottom of the crater, give it to my dying enemy, and then dress his wounds as best I can. The gurgling resumes. After the passing of an eternity, the young Frenchmen passes into eternity at about three in the afternoon. "I prop the dead man up again so that he lies comfortably...I close his eyes. They are brown, his hair is black and a bit curly at the sides. The mouth is full and soft beneath his moustache; the nose is slightly arched, the skin brownish; it is now not so pale as it was before, when he was alive. For a moment the face seems almost  healthy;--then it collapses suddenly into the strange face of the dead that I  have so often seen, strange faces, all alike" (190).

Just as the compulsion to help had followed the compulsion to flee, now the compulsion to speak takes over. "Comrade, I did not want to kill you. If you jumped in here again, I would not do it, if you would be sensible, too. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind. But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of you bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late...I will write to your wife" (191).

Who is the Other in a religious context? We have many terms for her. The unbeliever. The religious fanatic. The liberal. The fundamentalist. The pagan. The goy. The kafir.

Such labels are usually based on a theoretical understanding of the Other (often a misconception), but actually prevent us from a genuine encounter with her. Sadly, in the end, this only impoverishes our own humanity and our experience of the depth and power of our own religious traditions.

We know ourselves most fully in the presence of the Other.

It’s my hope and prayer that Faith House will become a place where encountering the Other, not thinking or talking about him or her or them, is “first philosophy.”

Our First Preview Gathering: Breathing in ... Faith House

~ by Juliet rabia Gentile

Outside the lavender gray sky opened and a torrent of rain poured down, inside all who were gathered moved and swayed to the sound of the affirmation of unity, La illaha ilallah, there is no reality apart from God. This was the auspicious beginning of the first of three inaugural preview gatherings of Faith House Manhattan.

We began with a suggestion from life: breathe. What does it mean to breathe? In this frenetic place of paradox and contradiction, this city we call home: Manhattan, all those gathered collectively took a breath of fresh air, put aside our certitudes and concepts and moved towards a new vision of what it means to be:  Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or another sojourner. We all embarked upon a journey to find something new: the other.

The Stranger, the guest at the table, these are concepts that play a central role in the mystical traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. What does it mean to be a guest? What does it mean to open one’s home to the other? Islamic oral tradition relates that it was the practice of the Prophet Abraham to abstain from eating unless he had a guest at his table. At one time he even waited an entire month without food because no guest or beggar came to his house seeking a meal. In this way Abraham is an example of the most extreme form of hospitality, that which seeks the other in order to survive. Abraham, the father of monotheism, had a tent in the deserts of Arabia, a tent that was open on all sides. Under this tent he invited all to join him and to pray, to feast and to learn from one another. Each one of us has followed his example in answering the invitation of Faith House: by inviting each other to be guests at our house, to seek shelter under our tent.

Just one week ago we gathered and watched as this creation took form, as a modern tent of Abraham was erected in mid-town…

The day began at 4pm with a sound of shofar. The program began with Samir Selmanovic, our coordinator, extending an invitation to all those gathered. This invitation was to enter Faith House with an open mind, to experience “holy awkwardness.” By accepting this invitation, each one of us entered the “living room” of Faith House, a place where one can share a meal, a thought, a dream with friends. A place where one can share a concern, ask a question, ask for help. A place where everyone is welcome to be themselves, to live…

Reflecting this plurality, the three co-leaders, Jill Minkoff, Bowie Snodgrass and myself came forward to each recite the central prayers of our traditions (The Shema, The Lord's Prayer, and Al Fatiha). Lauralea Banks led the group in a moment of silence to honor the multiplicity of spiritual traditions that were not formally represented that day.

Following this prelude of unity, the afternoon progressed with a short guided meditation on ”breath” from the Islamic tradition. This prayer, known as dhikr kafi or silent remembrance, consists of sitting silently and focusing on the heart while repeating the name Allah with each breath, Al- on the in-breath, and -Lah on the out-breath. The goal of this prayer is to drop away from the mind-space, to leave behind the have-to’s and must’s of daily life, and enter the Heart. The Heart or qalb in the Islamic tradition, is a place one can enter at any time and be with the Lord and Beloved alone, a place of refuge, of silence. From this space of embodied prayer we moved into a brief explanation of the common types of prayer practiced in the Islamic tradition. This explanation flowed naturally into another experiential exercise. This time we plunged into the prayer known as dhikr jali or audible remembrance. Those gathered began chanting, La illaha ilallah or there is no reality apart from the One. As the intensity of the chanting increased I began to sing a kaside or traditional improvisational song. After the chanting finished we all sat in silence for one moment before Jill led us in the fun and spirited exercise of “breathing life into Faith House,” along with the children.

This concluded our experience of reflecting on the foundation of our community: Life. This experience opened up new horizons and questions about what it means to be connected to each other and to our common Source of Life, as the life-breath which sustains us without question, distinction or hesitation. 

We can only experience this community with your participation. Without the other, we cannot fully know ourselves. It is the goal of Faith House to invite everyone to this banquet table, to this tent of Abraham, to enjoy spiritual fellowship, to learn together, to grow together. There is so much yet to discover and to share.

Mevlana Jellaludin Rumi writes in his poem, The Guest House:

The human being is a Guest House
every morning there is a knocking at the door
a new arrival: joy, anger, sadness
some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor

Welcome and entertain them all
even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of all its furniture

Treat each guest honorably,
for He may be clearing you out for some new delight
The dark thought, the shame, the malice
meet them at the door laughing
and invite them in

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

In this poem Rumi suggests that even what appears to be bitter may be inwardly sweet, may hold some hidden gold, some hidden wisdom for us. It is with this openness, with this sense of hospitality that we wish to invite you to be our Guest. We invite you to bring your hopes, fears, and questions to the door of Faith House, so that we may all learn together, the secrets that have been sent from beyond…

Thank you to all those who have brought Faith House into the world and to all those who will contribute in the future.

The doors are open. Enter in. Welcome to the adventure!

Thank you!

The first big news is that on June 14 about sixty of us had our first preview gathering!  Next week, expect a special newsletter about the event. For information on July 26 and August 23 preview sessions click HERE.

Secondly, after four months of searching, processing a number of applications, and conducting interviews, we have found our three co-leaders!

After the last phone call of this exhilarting and exhausting process, I went to my bedroom/office, sat down and cried. They were tears of happiness and gratitude to God. And to you.

Their names are Jill, Bowie, and Rabia--yes, all women! Click below to read their bios, see their pictures, sense their dreams. They are responsible for guiding, nurturing, and growing individual members and our community as a whole.  Below is a picture taken in my apartment on May 28, 2008, when three of them met for the very first time.

Jill Minkoff (Judaism), READ BIO

Bowie Snodgrass (Christianity), READ BIO

Rabia Gentile (Islam), READ BIO

To support Jill, Bowie, and Rabia, click HERE.

Those of you who have been thinking about contributing but never took time to do it, please take time right now. Click on the link below and help us move the heart all the way across the city!

Samir Selmanovic and Lauralea Banks, New York City

Have a Cup of Delicious Peace

~ by Ben Corey-Moran who is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Coffee Development at Thanksgiving, and is a former member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Sustainability Committee, as well as chair of United Student’s for Fair Trade’s National Advisory Board. He is inspired by his Jewish tradition's insights into justice, relationship, and deeply moved by the task of bringing his tradition to life in our time, especially in matters of food, farming, and trade. Ben lives in Northern California.

Sharing a dedication to the deepest expression of our faiths' values, Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Faith House are exploring the possibilities of global interfaith partnership for environmental justice, and an opportunity to support the 754-member Peace Kawomera Cooperative in Uganda. We hope to work together to bring this story of peace from Uganda and inspire individuals and communities here in the US.

In 2003, Joab Keki, a Ugandan farmer, walked door-to-door asking his Muslim, Christian, and Jewish neighbors to leave behind a history of conflict and face their challenges together. This community of third and fourth generation coffee farmers was struggling to make a living off the low prices offered by the local market. They faced a situation confronting millions like them around the world: struggle with low prices, or cut down the coffee trees, and surrounding forest for lumber, and try to make it with another crop. On the one hand, they had the hope for a sustainable farming future; on the other, they faced the dire consequences of poverty, both social and environmental. With the assistance of Thanksgiving Coffee Company, a family-run coffee roaster in Northern California, these Jewish, Christian and Muslim farmers formed a cooperative. They named their coffee Peace Kawomera, which means, “Delicious Peace” in the Luganda language.

Now in 2008, the Peace Kawomera Cooperative has grown to over 750 members. Thanks to their collective effort, the farmers sell directly to Thanksgiving Coffee Company, and receive $2.60 per pound, a price four times higher than what they were previously paid. This has enabled farmers to send their children to school, start savings accounts, and reinvest in their farms.

Somaili Bissaso, one of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative’s most prominent members was instrumental in convincing his Muslim community to join the cooperative, and has since led the growth and development of the interfaith peace effort. When asked about his thoughts on Thanksgiving Coffee, Bissaso responded,  “We are very grateful, and glad that you have come. You have encouraged us, and you have given us energy to love our coffee trees. Even our youth—my grandsons included—now have the hope to be coffee farmers one day. We pray that, Insha’allah, God gives us more time, luck, and energy.”

Together, the farmers have succeeded in doing something that none could have done alone. As they face the many challenges of life in rural Uganda, they look to their cooperative for hope and strength. In the coming years, the Cooperative plans to invest in land and equipment, offer microfinance to members and contribute to a variety of public health and education projects. That’s where communities like Faith House can help. Please visit our Community Development section to learn more about the Cooperative’s struggles and successes.

On the slopes of Mount Elgon, in Eastern Uganda, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian coffee farmers are struggling to heal a history of violence. Theirs is the story of farmers united by a shared struggle for fair and a sustainable economy. Their fair trade, organic and certified Kosher and Halal coffee is purchased by a growing network of churches, synagogues and mosques across the United States. We invite you to join efforts like this and harness the buying power of your community for peace and justice, and to heal the broken relationships of our world. 

To learn more about this story of peace, economic justice, and environmental sustainability, and to find out how you, your institution, or congregation can get involved, please visit Thanksgiving Coffee’s website, www.deliciouspeace.com.

Advisory Council Expands

We are delighted to introduce to you Imam Khalid Latif, a brand new member of our Advisory Council. Imam Latif is a Muslim chaplain at New York University. Under his leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU became the first ever fully established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States. Imam Latif's exceptional dedication and ability to cross interfaith and cultural lines brought him recognition throughout the city, so much so that in 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg established Imam Latif as the youngest chaplain in history of the New York City Police Department at the age of 24.

Imam Latif's numerous speaking engagements and awards have kept him in the public eye as one of New York City's most promising and well-known young Muslim leaders. He has been a speaker at the United Nations, Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall and a number of prestigious universities, including Princeton, Harvard, the University of Massachusetts, Stonybrook and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has done consultation work for the State Department's International Visitors Program and its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the British Consulate and Parliament.

He has worked tirelessly to foster dialogue with people of other faiths in order to clarify misconceptions and encourage mutual education. In the process he has begun to carve out a much-needed space for young American Muslims to celebrate their unique identity and have their voices heard in the larger public sphere. And our city is better for it! Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله or "praise to God")! 

Imam Latif will also teach Quran and speak at Faith House several times a year. For his full bio click HERE. To read about our Advisory Council click HERE.

Launch Date!

~ by Lauralea Banks

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said more than forty years ago in an address to Protestant students and faculty at the Union Theological Seminary in New York,

Parochialism has become untenable... The religions of the world are no more self-sufficient, no more independent, no more isolated than individuals or nations... Energies, experiences, and ideas that come to life outside the boundaries of a particular religion or all religions continue to challenge and to affect every religion.  Horizons are wider, dangers are greater... No religion is an island.

For my generation, these words have only been growing in importance. We are in a dire need of an opportunity to learn to live interdependently and therefore more faithfully.

And that's why the news I have for you is so great! After over a year of dreaming, networking, fundraising, and sometimes wondering if we were crazy for thinking this could work, it's really going to happen! WE HAVE A LAUNCH DATE!!!!!!  After  much discussion and consultation with our Jewish and Muslim mentors we've decided that on SEPTEMBER 27, Faith House will officially leave the realm of ideas and become a physical, tangible community that will meet on a weekly basis! 

In order to prepare for the grand event, we will be holding preview gatherings once a month (June 14, July 26, and August 23). These meetings will be examples of what Faith House gatherings will look like. Leading to September 27, we will use these three sessions to assess and adjust our ministry. Stay tuned as we finalize our location, announce our three co-founders, and develop our programs.

This is a great time to send your contribution for the three co-founders and help us move into a new phase of our project and help us create an interdependent world! Why not do it right now?

Thank you for your support!

In Their Own Words: A Talk With Samir (AUDIO)

There’s something about hearing it firsthand – without the barrier of ink and paper (or a computer screen) and a need to wonder about tone and meaning. And with the delicate first steps of Faith House Manhattan, and it’s commitment to listening deeply and speaking authentically, people associated with Faith House here in New York have a desire to build the dialogue in clear tones. In Their Own Words seeks to hear from voices on all sides of the issue; those looking on, those deeply involved, those unsure of where all this is taking us. Every voice is important and we invite you to join in by leaving a comment or contacting us directly at info@faithhousemanhattan.org.

Length of the interview: app. 20 minutes

Click here to LISTEN "A Talk With Samir" ...

Click here to DOWNLOAD "A Talk With Samir" …

Interview conducted by Stacey Antoine Savariau, JD, CHHC, AADP, a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, creativity coach, workshop leader and an evolved attorney. After working for years as a litigator she retired from the courtroom to pursue her other passions. Stacey is devoted to coaching, teaching & facilitating workshops & women’s wisdom circles for creating vibrant health, awakening creativity, restoring passionate and balanced living & discovering the work we were born to do. She reaches a global audience through her site, www.OneWorldWellness.com. Stacey lives in a brownstone on a tree-lined street in Brooklyn, N.Y. Where else?

Four Stories of God

~ by Samir Selmanovic

For more than 20 years since my baptism (a ritual by which one signals publicly that one has become a follower), people have often given me the opportunity to “tell my story”—to “give a testimony,” as we Christians like to call it. Despite the fact that my life with God was not only passionate but also conflicted and complicated, the story itself was easy to tell. It was all one story. One life. One song. 

But it is not that easy anymore. Today, as early Hasidic Rav Kook did long ago, I find myself wondering which song I should sing. Should I look into my own soul and sing the song of the struggles and joys I encounter within? Or should I move beyond myself and sing the song of my people, my religion? Or maybe I should rise above my Christian story and sing a song of all songs of humanity? Or should I spread my heart still wider and sing a song with all creation?

Is the story of God a story of my own soul, a story of my religion, a story of humanity or a story of all that is? To accept all these stories as the stories of God is to imply that my religion then becomes only a part of the ultimate story of the world, not the ultimate story itself.

Orthodox rabbi David Hartman, concerned with the perennial conflict in Jerusalem, insists that different melodies of one God must be cherished: “Each group feels that its way is the only way: there is one God, therefore there has to be one truth. Christians build their story on the Jewish story and therefore feel they are inheritors of Judaism. Muslims built their story on the Bible, and therefore they feel that they are the perfect expression of monotheism. Now, we’ve got to get out of each other’s story. We can’t feel that in order for me to tell my story, your story has to end. . . . In other words, affirmation [of my story] does not require that I demonise those who are different from me. I don’t have to build conviction out of hate and fear.” If my identity depends on annihilation of other stories, I cannot really sing all four songs of God.

What if God measures our religion by the way it contributes to stories other than one’s own? What if our religions will be judged by the good they bring to their non-adherents? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel says this succinctly: “When in the afterglow of religious insight I can see a way that is good for all humans as it is for me—I will know it is His way.”

In the same vein, The Quran reads, “Had God willed He would have made you into one religious community; but it was his will to test you in what He gave you. So compete with each other in doing good works” (Quran 5:48). Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University contends that “there’s no more crucial problem for our day than to be able to cross religious frontiers while preserving our own integrity. In fact, I think this the only exciting intellectual adventure of our times.”

So I find it hard to “give a testimony” today without offending people of my own religion whose identity depends on a divided and conflicted world. As a follower of Christ, I have grown to believe in a world that is larger than Christianity. Jesus called this larger world the kingdom of God. It is the symphony made of all stories, individual and communal, our magnanimous God is involved with in this world.

Only God is God. And Christianity is not. Nor Judaism. Nor Islam. Paradoxically, this realization about the greatness of God is a deeply Christian, Jewish and Muslim teaching.

When I pray the Lord’s Prayer, I begin with the first word, “Our . . .” (see Matthew 6:9) and I stop and ask myself, “Who do I include in this Our?” I remind myself that the story of God is bigger than my personal story, bigger than the story of my religion, bigger than the story of all humanity, and bigger than the story of all creation. In the kingdom of God, these four stories are all really my stories—all at the same time—woven together, giving meaning and life to each other.

(from Signs of the Times, Australia, September 2007, adapted by the author)

Highlights 2007

This past year has been a tipping point in finding the courage to act on what many of us have been carrying inside for a long time. Now we find ourselves on an unfamiliar territory. And it is not a fun experience. Like Israel in the desert, Joseph in the pit, or Jonah in the belly of the fish, we have often felt we would like to be anywhere but where God brought us.

At the same time, standing on the threshold of a new world, we listen to God more carefully. Hard inner work is under way. It is a pregnant time. We should not hurry our journey through this sacred space, surrender our difficulties too quickly, or rush to answers we don't have.

To celebrate our survival so far, here are some highlights from 2007:

1. Formation of the Support Team. The Faith House project would never have begun without 44 families and individuals around the country, and internationally, who have committed to steady, long-term support. Thank you!!! (To learn more about the importance and functions of Selmanovic Family Support Team, click HERE)

2. Transition to "big bad city." Samir switched his employment from working for a large and supportive church organization to a self-supporting ministry with all of its challenges of needing salary, benefits, health insurance etc. Vesna has found a part-time job and their two daughters have adjusted to their new schools in New York.

3. Launch Team. Responsibility for the launch team is to prepare for the first series of public meetings of Faith House. The team meets once a month and is currently comprised of 35 people. This group of people has bright minds, open hearts, and a major capacity for the delay of gratification!

4. Lauralea Banks. Lauralea has joined Samir in leading the effort of networking in the city, recruiting founders from Jewish and Muslim traditions, and contacting organizations with whom Faith House can develop partnerships. She does this on a small stipend and some additional money she has been raising herself.  (To learn more about Lauralea click HERE, to learn more about Lauralea's Support Team click HERE.)

5. Network development.  We have participated in different events where we have met amazing people from whom we can learn. One of the venues was the Urgent Conversations after the play Masked in New York. Samir has been a panelist on two occasions and has facilitated one of the panel discussions.

6. Talking, talking, and more talking. We have made progress in addressing an endless stream of questions and challenges. We have revamped the website and posted more than fifty articles; distributed more than 600 business cards in the city, nationally, and internationally; and grown our newsletter subscriptions from 300 in August to 700 in December.  Visits to our website have doubled in the second part of the year, totaling 22,000 for 2007. These are small numbers but wonderful just the same!

7. House Rule. We have been working on a set of 16 principles that would help us, over time, establish the DNA of Faith House. It has taken much time and energy and is being reviewed by our mentors. In the process we have consulted other interfaith initiatives seeking to avoid pitfalls and nurture good will.

8. Board of Directors. We have our first two members!  And we hope to add three more this coming year. This board will eventually be comprised of 10-12 people, meet quarterly, supervise Faith House leadership, ask hard questions, offer guidance, and give blessing.

9.  A major turn in strategy. The Launch Team along with our mentors have decided to postpone our launch date to the Fall of 2008 in order to find and engage founders from Muslim and Jewish tradition in making decisions about Faith House from the start, thus making decisions "with them" and not "for them." (See our employment opportunity ad below and help us spread the word!)

10.  Timeline for 2008. We have decided to have our first single public event in April/May 2008, start our pre-view gatherings once a month in Summer and launch our first weekly meeting in the Fall. 

William Bridges writes: "When we are ready to make a beginning ... we are given subtle hints--inner signals--that alert us to the proximity of new beginnings. We get faint intimations; we hear a subtle breeze, and soon we begin to discern the shape of the next step." 

Our deepest gratitude to those of you who have supported us and taken this difficult and sacred journey with us. We are looking forward to a subtle breeze on our faces this coming year!

Faith House team from New York

Faith House Writing Awarded

~ by Nathan Brown

An article written for the Faith House website has been awarded by a Christian publication in Australia. "A Letter to the Three Friends I Wish I Had" by Roy Naden was awarded the Hindson Award for "Best devotional article" in Record in 2007. The article was originally posted on the Faith House web site on March 6, 2007, and was reprinted in Record with permission of Dr Naden and Faith House.

The Record editors' comments with the award read as follows:

"As one of our editorial team commented after reading this article at the time of its publication, 'That article made me want to become a better person.' Now retired, Dr Naden reflected on his working years, both professionally and personally, and expressed regrets for some of the opportunities and friendships missed, before committing to using his remaining years to make the world a better place and support younger people who are now trying to live in a different way."

Dr Naden is originally from Australia, but in retirement lives in Seattle area, Washington. Record is the weekly news magazine of Adventist Church for the South Pacific region, based in Melbourne, Australia.

NOTE: To read "A Letter to the Three Friends I Wish I Had" click HERE.

A Revolution of Hope

~ by Samir Selmanovic

After working on ideas and designs for the last twelve months, we are finally going public.  Here is our logo!  (See at the top of the blog).

A number of you have set down with me over a meal or a drink and listened to my half-hour explanation of a drawing like this on a napkin. You asked questions, shared your excitement and worries, which all added to it.  After this year-long process, special thanks to Steve Hatzman from Seattle for propelling this design process forward, to Tim Gilman from Portland for final touches, to Justin Kim from Washington D.C. and Katharine Loving from New York for their advice on legal issues.

Why house?  Why these religious symbols?  Why separate circles?  What is the fourth circle about?  Why are they horizontally positioned?  What about the roof?  What about the foundations?  Where are the walls? . . .  Oh, so much to talk about.  We would love to hear some of your comments or answer your questions. 

I have never seen these three religious symbols displayed together, until someone sent me a video from a U2 concert where daring Bono wore a bandana with the three on his forehead.  He is convinced of the potential for good that has been stored in them.

Most people find the idea of Faith House either impossible or dangerous.  On the first account, I have become like most of you, a passionate post-cynic. On the second account, I think we will either learn to live together on this newly small planet, or there will be no planet.

Next week, we will begin two months of fundraising campaign to bring an Imam, a Rabbi, and a Pastor to work together for two years, building a different kind of community.  Imagine that!  I wonder if you can.

We believe that our main source of support will be you, the readers of our newsletter/website.  I hope that in the weeks to come, regardless of where you live in the world, you will make a step from being an observer to being a full participant in this revolution of hope.

God has his hopes high.  Why shouldn't we?

Looking for Each Other

~by Samir Selmanovic

Those of us working locally to prepare for the launch of Faith House public meetings had an important conversation recently and decided that in order to live up to our mission, we need to make a turn in our strategy. We realized that starting Faith House as a predominantly Christian community would create a group with an owned-by-Christians DNA. No matter how open we would be to others, we would be in the position of power. Which we believe would not be in accordance with Christian faith as we have come to understand it. We believe we don't need to be in charge in order to fully live out our convictions.

We therefore decided to have at least two more "founders" added from the start, one Imam, one Rabbi, endorsed by their respective traditions/networks plus myself representing the Christian community. We want to make our initial decisions about Faith House with the future stakeholders not for them. Here is how one of our wise Christian advisors from London put it:

This seems to me like a very thoughtful way forward. I believe that it will be much easier to achieve the vision you have by including the other voices from the start. Rather than trying to invite them into a homogenous house where they are red and everyone else is blue and convince them it is their home too. If Faith House is really to be a community, it is best that key stakeholders each get to cement the walls - or in this case posts, or bridges instead of walls, that will hold you together.

I once heard theologian Dallas Willard say, "You will know what the Kingdom of God is when you do things you know will not work, ... and they do!" I hope that those of you who are our Christian supporters approve of this act of "letting go." We have become tired of our own religions constantly clinging to a position of privilege and power. Now, we want to follow our Teacher who said, "Do to others what you want others to do to you." 

And we believe that a number of our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters are doing the same right now, loving their faith, disarming themselves, and looking for us.  Let's take time to seek and find each other.

Seven Questions

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Faith House website readers have been asking questions that require far more wisdom than I have. And those planning and praying for this project don't want to define boundaries and outcomes with too much specificity at this early stage to resolve the tensions many of us feel. We want to live our way into the answers, holding space open for the many people we have not yet met. We want them to help us craft the answers we need. So at this time, we are spending our energy examining our motives and learning to live with hope.

However, here are some initial answers to seven of those questions. We invite you to help us answer these questions better with your constructive comments. Thank you, friends!

1. Who do you seek to include into this new fellowship, and to what end?

At this early stage, we have four groups in mind: Jews, Christians, Muslims, and “the Other.” (“The other” is a term taken from philosophy to describe those perceived as distinct and different from “us.”) The three great Abrahamic religions have serious problems functioning together, so we want to start at the point of this hurting. We envision a place where Muslims learn to be better Muslims, Jews learn to be better Jews, and Christians learn to be better Christians as we all learn to live our faiths in close proximity with and for the benefit of “the other.” This last group includes atheists and Buddhists among others. They will all have a full place at the table.

2. What can be accomplished with this diverse group?

Faith House members will come to understand the story, the values, and the treasure of each others’ spiritualities. Those who believe in one God will also learn to live with and hear Buddhists and others who have alternative views, as well as atheistic arguments challenging religion (of which the Bible has aplenty) and against God (which is always someone’s interpretation of God, a.k.a. as an idol). When atheists witness people of faith serving something greater than the expansion of their own religions in an atmosphere of open dialogue, love, and service to others, we believe they will come, contribute, and join the conversation. For those who seek vibrant congregations made up exclusively of people from their own tradition/religion, the Faith House will point them to the churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples in New York City. Faith House will also support some of their community ministries both financially and with volunteers.

3. What is the goal of this endeavor from the Christian standpoint?

The goal of Christians in the group is not only to go beyond the Christian monologue with which we are accustomed, but also beyond mere dialogue with others. Dialogue is not enough. We want to, in the name of Christ and for the sake of the world that God so loved, learn to live on the same planet, in the same cities, streets, or families with those who are different from us. We have one world, and we dare not forget that. We Christians want to do this by imitating the love, humility, and hope of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Faith House will be an incarnation of “the way of Christ” for our time and place. And we believe that Christ is cosmic and that God, grace, and goodness are embedded in the texture of life itself. Because of that, we want to be students of God, grace, and goodness from others. We believe that when we love others, we will not fear them. Others will need to dig deeper into their traditions to be a part of this. They will need to grow into their answers too.

A Caravan of Hope

~ by Samir Selmanovic

Hello friends. We are finally public! I am exhausted and ecstatic. Many thanks to those of you who have already signed up to help in different ways, and welcome to those of you who are just arriving to the conversation.

At the beginning of this journey I have more fears and questions than I can count, but I do have some answers for myself. Sages from Christian tradition have taught me the following truth: "You can't contain God. You can find God's footsteps in every life and every community." In the last several years, I have come to realize that if the first order of my life on earth is to seek God, then I must know "the other" and let myself be blessed by God that is in "the other."

I am a follower of Christ. But at times I also find myself to be a Muslim, a Jew, and even an atheist. This is because I have been blessed by the love, care, and wisdom from sojourners in other religions. In fact, I don't know if I would be walking with Christ today if it was not for their help.

I envision our paths toward God being woven together, not in order to morph into one religion, but to coexist together for the good of the world. When the treasures of different spiritual traditions open up to you and me, let's not hesitate to learn. In the matters of God, only by being a student at all times can qualify you to be a teacher some of the time. If you keep on learning, sooner or later, the treasures of your spiritual tradition will be needed by all and give light to many.

The world is troubled by religion, including yours and mine. We are on a journey towards a different kind of faith. Encourage us, critique us, or if you prefer, simply listen in. If you want to be our partner, friend, or cheerleader, let us know. Welcome to our caravan of hope!