Category Archives: Interfaith Movement
The Art of Interfaith Homiletics?
This summer, I had the honor of preaching a sermon on interfaith engagement to eight different Unitarian Universalist congregations in Illinois and Wisconsin. The sermon was entitled, “Acts of Faith: Interreligious Engagement as Spiritual Practice,” and won the District Sermon Contest Award in my faith tradition.
Based on the themes found within Eboo Patel’s book, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, The Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, my experiences delivering this sermon for two straight months gave me an opportunity to reflect on not only the place of interfaith engagement within the spiritual formations of individuals within my own religious tradition, but also on the art of homiletics. Read the rest of this entry
Turning Boulders into Beaches
A beach is much more impressive, when one realizes the time and energy that has gone into the deconstruction of big rocks in order to make billions of sand pebbles. When we stand on a beach, our toes sinking deeper into the warm bed beneath them, and we look out into the endless oceans of beauty, we are in essence standing at the mouth of the universe. Every grain of sand has spoken a sacred story of truth and wisdom, every one with a journey from deconstruction of old identity to reconstruction anew.
I felt like a grain of sand over the past few days, as I gathered at Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School with a group of about 25 seminarians, academics, professors, and practitioners all attempting to do something magical: turn boulders into beaches. Each of us is dedicated to incorporating interreligious engagement into the nature of our particular vocational goals. We believe that to be a religious leader in the 21st century, we must take seriously the religious diversity in the world and the subsequent difficulties and possibilities that emerge for building foundations for harmony and justice. Read the rest of this entry
When Will You Stand Up?
Walid Shoebat addresses the audience at the Waukesha Expo Center. Credit Rory Linnane
Over 200 residents, mainly from western suburbs of Milwaukee, rallied Saturday night to discuss the proposed construction of a mosque in Brookfield, WI. My home congregation is located in Brookfield, and as such I believe this is a perfect opportunity to stand up with our Muslim brothers and sisters to respond to this explicit discrimination against them.
People of progressive faith must be more willing to stand up in the public square to advocate and work against religious discrimination. It is far too easy for religious communities who have withstood their moment of religious discrimination (i.e., Catholics, Jews, etc.) to become self-absorbed and not recognize the cyclical nature of this trend. Read the rest of this entry
UUs Can Believe Whatever They Want: Yes, But…
Unitarian Universalism is a religious tradition with roots in Christianity, but has since taken a strong stance regarding religious freedom in every person’s spiritual formation. This may be characterized as a non-creedal religious tradition, which is arguably shared with some mainline protestant traditions and other traditions altogether. However, Unitarian Universalism reaches a step further by eliminating a theological centrality (i.e., monotheism, Trinitarianism, etc.). The embodiment of our understanding of religious freedom is found within our 4th Principle: we promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning for every person.
This Principle, however, receives a lot of misunderstanding and distortion. Ironically, the majority of the people who perpetuate this distortion are Unitarian Universalists. The misinterpretation of this Principle goes something like this: “We as Unitarian Universalists believe in religious freedom, which means that we can believe whatever we want…” Unfortunately, this fails to understand the true complexity and beauty of this Principle. We do not promote religious freedom, alone; we promote freedom and responsibility in our search for truth and meaning. The religious freedom is met with theological responsibility. But, what is theological responsibility and how does it either hinder or enhance religious freedom? Read the rest of this entry
The Legacy of Spirit and Service: Reflection on the 2011 Baccalaureate Mass and Leadership Recognition Ceremony
With Hattie Bertschausen at Awards Ceremony
Yesterday was a very spiritual and powerful day for me, as it was the last day I would see many people whom I have spent the last four years with at DePaul University. This weekend is about being with family and those who have supported us along our way to graduation. Tomorrow is about celebrating the hard work of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Class of 2011. I look forward to this day now more than ever because of the events that took place yesterday and the effects they had on my heart and spirit as I approach graduation.
The two events were the Baccalaureate Mass and the Leadership Recognition Ceremony. Both of these events had distinct purposes, aesthetics, and meanings to the students who attended them. For me they represented two parts of my extra-curricular career at DePaul University (and outside throughout these years), namely spirituality and leadership work. Each have been and will continue to be integral to my formation as a Unitarian Universalist minister, but also as a global citizen of this world. Read the rest of this entry
