Interfaith: It’s World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation

January 29, 2012 by

CLICK THE IMAGE to visit the World Sabbath website.SUNDAY, JANUARY 29: Many people around the world look to Michigan on the final Sunday of January to see what unfolds at the World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation. The World Sabbath website explains the goals of the annual observance that began in 2000. (Visit the 13th Annual World Sabbath website for time and location in Detroit. You also can go directly to the Sabbath program page to see what will unfold when families gather.)

The idea for this World Sabbath arose in the late 1990s, well before the terrorist attacks in 2001 and the wars that followed. The Rev. Rod Reinhart, an Episcopal priest in southeast Michigan, was heartbroken by conflicts he saw raging around the world even as a new millennium approached. Reinhart (who now serves a parish near Chicago and is a nationally known peace activist) gathered neighbors and friends to take action. At that time, Pope John Paul II also was calling from the Vatican for a new era of peace and cooperation in the “third millennium.” An annual World Sabbath, held in Michigan and replicated wherever communities chose to convene such an event, was an inspiring idea. For the first Sabbath, Reinhart invited other priests, ministers, imams, rabbis and gurus to join in prayers for peace. His chief collaborator was another Episcopal priest, the Rev. Ed Mullins, and together the two men took the idea to other parts of the world, as well. Today, Michigan’s Sabbath is the signature event keeping alive the annual tradition, although occasional similar Sabbaths have been held in other cities.

Today’s style of Sabbath in Michigan is stirring fresh attention—and ever-larger crowds—because of innovations in recent years by current Sabbath chair Gail Katz, who recently wrote all about the Sabbath’s intent and service. Mainly, Katz refocused the observance from clergy offering prayers to children bringing together colorful expressions of their hopes for peace—many involving music and some featuring dance. Most importantly, today’s organizers hope to inspire people across the country to see that building a peaceful world is a job we all share.

Care to read more about this innovative idea for peacemaking? Organizer Gail Katz writes about the goals of the Sabbath in the Friendship and Faith website.

National Observance: Join hands for the Day of Prayer

May 1, 2011 by

President Barack Obama signed a declaration for the 2011 National Day of Prayer observanceTHURSDAY, MAY 5: It’s amid ongoing debates that millions of U.S. citizens join their hands to observe the 2011 National Day of Prayer, as it was proclaimed by President Barack Obama last month. Each year since 1952, the President of the United States has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation. When Harry Truman created the joint resolution with Congress, it was written that each president would declare the presence of this observance each year. (Wikipedia has details.) Although President Obama has not held any formal events for the National Day of Prayer—as George Bush did—he has signed for its continued observance. (View this year’s proclamation.)

Supporters of the National Day of Prayer note America’s historical affiliations with prayer: from Pilgrims, some of the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., prayer has been a tool of hope and guidance. (Click here for the National Day of Prayer’s official site.)

Debate surrounds the current National Day of Prayer Task Force’s fairly limited Christian expression. Nevertheless, persons of all faiths do feel encouraged to utilize this day and hold community events, sometimes as alternatives to the official events.

Beyond debate over the nature of the official organization, some groups dispute the nature of any public prayer. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, for example, challenges the observance’s legality under the U.S. Constitution. (Articles are at Fox News, CNN and in the Christian Science Monitor.) Last month, after several appeals, a panel at the 7th District Court of Appeals stated that the President can, indeed, support prayer, if he chooses to do so.

Care to read some newly created prayers for diversity? Here’s a ReadTheSpirit gateway to two remarkable prayers for peace, written collectively by dozens of men and women!

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Interfaith: Four Chaplains continue to make waves

February 6, 2011 by

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6: Today we join with millions of veterans, churches and communities in remembering the “immortal” Four Chaplains who perished in World War II. The four men were U.S. Army chaplains—two Protestant, one Catholic and one Jewish—and they perished aboard the rapidly sinking U.S. Army Transport Dorchester, after it had been torpedoed by German forces during WWII. When the ship was hit, the four chaplains worked hard to calm the frenzied soldiers, as they duly passed out the available life vests. However, the ship sank quickly, the stock of life vests ran out—and the four chaplains handed over their own vests to save lives. They were last seen on the rolling and sinking ship, praying in their individual traditions—and then linking arms. (Wikipedia has the whole story.) Today, the Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation continues to further the cause of “unity without uniformity” by encouraging goodwill among all people. (If you’d like to learn more about chaplains, visit the US Government’s Armed Forces Chaplains Board.)

If you’re generally unfamiliar with the Four Chaplains—as many Americans are today—we heartily recommend checking out Dan Kurzman’s book, “No Greater Glory: The Four Immortal Chaplains and the Sinking of the Dorchester in World War II,” published in 2005. (Here’s a link to order a copy of Kurzman’s book from Amazon.) What makes Kurzman’s book a page turner is that he injects life back into the men on this tragic ship, including the chaplains themselves. Kurzman’s account draws on survivors’ vivid memories.

Often, the faith orientation of the individual chaplain didn’t matter much during the war—soldiers simply were reassured by their presence, as the veteran Michael Warish recalls in Kurzman’s book. “Guys would line up to talk to them. We had a lot of young guys, and a lot of them had never been away from home before. The chaplains were like mother and father to them.”

The interfaith sacrifice of the Four Chaplains has continues to inspire people: In 1948, a U.S. Postal stamp commemorating the Four Chaplains was the first time a Jewish person appeared on a U.S. stamp; in 1960, Congress created a medal and presented it to the chaplains’ descendants; and in 1997, the Immortal Chaplains Foundation was established. The Legion of Honor Award, given in honor of the Four Chaplains, has been presented to everyone from presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Carter to Bob Hope, John Glenn, James Michener and lesser-known military personnel, veterans and civilians. (One man in California has spent the last 10 years researching the tale of the Four Chaplains; read his story, recently published in the Ventura County Star newspaper.)

Interfaith: It’s the World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation

January 28, 2011 by

Children lead events at Michigan’s World Sabbath service; communities around the world are encouraged to mirror the serviceSUNDAY, JANUARY 30: Many people around the world look to Michigan on the final Sunday of January to see what unfolds at the World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation. The World Sabbath website explains the goals of the annual observance that began in 2000.

The idea for this World Sabbath arose in the late 1990s, well before the terrorist attacks in 2001 and the wars that followed. The Rev. Rod Reinhart, an Episcopal priest in southeast Michigan, was heartbroken by conflicts he saw raging around the world even as a new millennium approached. Reinhart, who now serves a parish near Chicago, gathered neighbors and friends to take action. At that time, Pope John Paul II also was calling from the Vatican for a new era of peace and cooperation in the “third millennium.” An annual World Sabbath, held in Michigan and replicated wherever communities chose to convene such an event, was an inspiring idea. For the first Sabbath, Reinhart invited other priests, ministers, imams, rabbis and gurus to join in prayers for peace. His chief collaborator was another Episcopal priest, the Rev. Ed Mullins, and together the two men took the idea to other parts of the world, as well. Today, Michigan’s Sabbath is the signature event keeping alive the annual tradition, although occasional similar Sabbaths have been held in other cities.

Today’s style of Sabbath in Michigan is stirring fresh attention—and ever-larger crowds—because of innovations in recent years by current Sabbath chair Gail Katz, who recently wrote all about the Sabbath’s intent and service. Mainly, Katz refocused the observance from clergy offering prayers to children bringing together colorful expressions of their hopes for peace—many involving music and some featuring dance.

Most importantly, today’s organizers hope to inspire people across the country to see that building a peaceful world is a job we all share. (This year’s official World Sabbath will be at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, from 4-6 p.m. For directions, click here.) In Michigan’s service today, a young Jewish person will blow the shofar; a young Muslim will chant a call to prayer; and young persons from 10 different religious backgrounds will share prayers of peace. Through the musical elements so vital to today’s service, officials hope all present will understand peace in its universal language.