November 2018 Florida Speaking Tour

After the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Ontario, some of the Abrahamic Reunion’s peacemakers traveled to Florida for a week long speaking tour from November 12th-16th. The group included Sheikh Ghassan Manasra (International Director), Rev. Dr. Anna Less (Executive Director), Mohamad Jamous (Palestinian Director), Abed al-Salam Manasra (Israel Programs Manager) and his family, and Rev. Chris Miller (Administrator). Below are the blog posts Rev. Dr. Anna Less wrote throughout the tour.

An Interfaith Service in Sarasota

Wednesday, November 14th, 2018

The Abrahamic Reunion peacemakers have been invited to the Unity Church in Sarasota, Florida to be special guest presenters at tonight’s Wednesday evening service.

When we arrive, we are greeted by Unity’s minister, Rev. Dr. Suzi Schadle, and Unity’s associate minister, Rev. Amy Zehe.

Both Suzi and Amy have recently taken the Abrahamic Reunion’s three day Peacemaking Training with Ghassan, and they enthusiastically wonder when the follow-up training will be.  These trainings help participants learn to:

• Bring together a multi-faith community
• Facilitate multi-faith and multi-cultural group discussions
• Build a comparative text study and dialogue group

For more information on our training programs, contact Chris Miller at chris@abrahamicreunion.org

We are so happy to look around and see that well over 200 people have showed up for this special multi-faith event.  Yes, Suzi’s and Amy’s training really worked!

For over two years, the Abrahamic Reunion held regular monthly text study meetings in Sarasota, Florida.  Sadly, as the demands of growing the organization took over, and as our international speaking tours expanded, Ghassan and I have not been in Sarasota to participate in the monthly meetings. It has been over a year since we have seen many of these beloved friends.

Our hearts well up as we look around to see Rabbi Michael Werbow from Temple Beth Shalom and Father Joe Clifford from Saint Thomas More Catholic Church sitting in the audience, waiting to speak with us.

Both Rabbi Werbow and Father Joe were regular hosts and participants in the monthly text study groups, often bringing their congregations to join us as well.

Participating in text study groups together grows a deep feeling that is difficult to explain. Somehow, coming together regularly to share the foods we love as we learn about one another’s cherished beliefs and sacred texts generates a soul- level feeling of comfort and safety that feels like family.

We haven’t seen Rabbi Werbow and Father Joe for a long time, and when we see each other across the room our faces light up and we rush to embrace one another. I reflect on the feeling developed in our monthly Sarasota text study meetings. It has often been a source of inner strength and inspiration, especially when Ghassan and I have traveled to unfamiliar places to visit congregations that have made tentative inquiries about the Abrahamic Reunion’s work.

We are particularly moved when we learn that Rabbi Werbow has just returned from Pittsburgh, where he attended four funerals for victims he personally knew who were massacred in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting.

I pray that somehow this multi-faith event celebrating God’s diversity will help him, and the members of his congregation, to feel safer and more secure.

The evening begins with music performed by Faerie Elaine Silver and Rev. Dr. Suzi. Soon Abed comes on stage with his oud, an ancient lute-like instrument from the Middle East, and begins playing as well.

One by one, the faith leaders from various congregations in Sarasota come forward to offer prayers and share sacred texts from their traditions. Ghassan and Mohamad recite prayers from the Quran in Arabic, Rabbi Werbow shares teachings from the Jewish faith, and Father Joe speaks about the Celtic beliefs that informed Catholicism in his homeland of Ireland. I share a Buddhist meditation, and Chris shares a Sufi prayer for peace.

With each prayer and practice, the atmosphere becomes more transcendent, loving, and light. By the end, each person in the room is glowing with an inner sense of radiance, harmony, and well-being.

At the end of the service, each person in the room begins to stand up, unprompted, and reach out to take the hand of a person near them. Soon, the whole room has joined hands and formed a gigantic circle. We stand silently, looking into one another’s faces, absorbing the sense of profound depth and awe that exists among us.

After a long moment, there is an announcement about food and a Q&A panel in the next room. The circle begins to dissolve into exchanges of hugs and phone numbers as the group moves to the next room. Despite the shift in tone, that sense of light and awe lingers. When the evening ends and goodbyes are being shared in the parking lot, people are still amazed by what had happened this evening.

I would especially like to thank Chris Miller, Rev. Dr. Suzi Schadle and Rev. Amy Zehe for organizing this wonderful Abrahamic Reunion event.

I would also like to thank this evening’s presenters: Mary Homola (St Thomas More Parish Life Coordinator) and Theresa Fieberts (Suncoast Center for Spiritual Living)

St. James Church in Port Charlotte

Monday, November 12th, 2018,

The Abrahamic Reunion Peacemakers have just traveled from the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Ontario to Florida to begin our speaking tour there.

Our first stop in Florida is at St. James Episcopal Church in Port Charlotte. St James is the spiritual home to a multiracial community of almost 400 congregants, many whom have immigrated to the US from various islands in the Caribbean. Our hosts are the Very Rev. Cesar Olivero and his assistant Rev. Arthur Lee.

Also joining our event are several women from the Masjid Nur Islamic Community of South West Florida in Punta Gorda and their imam, Imam Yousuf Memon. The Abrahamic Reunion has worked for a number of years with Imam Yousuf, doing multi-faith text study groups in Sarasota, Florida. Unfortunately, due to our heavy speaking schedules, it has been nearly a year since we have seen one another.

However, the deep bond generated by studying religious texts together causes us all of us to rush up and hug him when he enters the room.

Imam Yousuf proudly introduces the women who have accompanied him from his mosque to participate in this incredibly diverse event. Two of the women are Palestinian and they are eager to connect with Ghassan Manasra, our International Director, and Mohamad Jamous, our Palestinian Director. They also immediately reach out to Abed Manasra, our Israeli Programs Manager, and his family. As they pile homemade Middle Eastern sweets on our plates, they speak Arabic to inquire about conditions in the Holy Land.

For the past few weeks, things have been particularly tense on the Gaza border. Rockets are being fired back and forth and people fear that things could escalate into a full-scale war. The women worriedly explain where their relatives live and seek reassurance from members of our team who have arrived recently from the Holy Land.

Another imam arrives from Arcadia. He is wearing a turban and long robes. People begin whispering about what a great scholar he is. When he reaches out his broad hand to deliver a handshake, he introduces himself as Alibaba Lumumba Nyumba Ya Amani. Port Charlotte’s diversity index just took another leap!

When I look around the room, it is a wonder that this small Floridian town is the host to an Abrahamic Reunion event that has such diverse representation.

During the meeting, both Imam Yousuf and Ghassan are inspired to quote the thirteenth verse of chapter 49 from the Quran, which says:

“O mankind, indeed, We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another.”

There is a sense of celebration and joy when one looks around the room and absorbs the bright bouquet of humanity that has come together to learn about each other’s religions at this unusual AR event in central Florida. It is obvious that each participant’s love for humanity has triumphed.

If you are interested in hosting an Abrahamic Reunion text study event in your area please be in touch with Chris Miller at chris@abrahamicreunion.org