By Penny Elsley
“We live, of course, in the tension between two worlds: the
world where I need to prove that I am right and the world of daily right
relationship with myself and others. One demands dominative power and concern
with changing other people; the other is a self-renewing call to right
relationship, and is primarily about changing me.”
~ Richard Rohr, from Jesus’ Plan for the New World
Two years ago, as part of my role as Coordinator of World
Youth Day for the Broken Bay Diocese in Sydney (WYD is a huge Catholic youth
gathering with the Pope, held in a major city every 3 years), I discovered that
we were to be the host of a large 13 foot high wooden cross that has been
traveling the world for 20 years (a bit like the Olympic torch). I have to confess that my initial
reaction to this news was “oh no!!!” What was so wrong you might ask? I thought
immediately about what this might look like in public places and all the people
it might offend or at best, exclude. I have a strong aversion to any actions
that project an idea that any one faith has all the answers, or that we believe
all the right things. I’m more concerned in believing in the ‘right way’.
I wondered about my Muslim friends. How on earth could I
convince them that WYD was for EVERYONE while we proceeded to parade this
gigantic symbol, which exclusively represented the Christian faith? The answer came a few days later when I
went to the U2 Concert in Sydney and saw Bono wearing his renowned COEXIST
bandana. “That’s it!” I exclaimed,
“We just need to make the symbols of the other faiths 13 feet high too!!!!!”
And so the adventure began, in cooperation with my Muslim and Jewish friends,
we began to plan the big gathering we simply called “COEXIST”. But there was
still something missing. The Aboriginal spirituality so central to the spirit
of our people was not obvious in this equation. We soon began conspiring and
dreaming with some of the local Aboriginal community and the Australian COEXIST
logo was born! The Rainbow Serpent, central to the dreamtime was painted into
the logo in such a way that it connected the symbols of the faiths. And this
proved to be rather prophetic, for it was the Aboriginal people who taught us how to be one. And it has to do with
the fact that we are ALL intricately connected with mother Earth. The land is
our common denominator.
Along the way there was much encouragement and excitement
but there were also those who warned us that a gathering such as this is not
possible, that the Christian cross is offensive to Muslims and Jews and that it
will never work. But there was an underlying conviction - it was time to break
through the barriers of the past and proceed with a new way of being in unity.
This wasn’t just any interfaith gathering. We gathered at a beautiful
waterfront park and after being treated to a welcome dance by some wonderful
local Aboriginal young people, the MC instructed everyone to go and pick up the
symbols to prepare to carry them in procession to the site of our evening
gathering. As people got up to approach the symbols, something unexpected
happened. People didn’t walk towards the symbol of their own faith tradition
but that of another. Together, Muslims and Christians carried the Star of
David, Jews and Christians carried the giant whale, the totem symbol of the local
Aboriginal community… The following day the local newspaper quoted a Muslim
woman saying what a privilege it was for her to carry the WYD Cross!
And now, two years later I find myself in another country,
seeking still the way of Coexistence. Yesterday, as I strolled along the 4
blocks between the subway and my house, I passed a large group of Muslim men
kneeling, head lowered, on their prayer mats, facing Mecca. They took up the
entire footpath outside the small neighborhood Mosque. This sight took me to
another place…and I momentarily forgot that I am actually in New York City,
metropolis and heart beat of the western world. Then I remembered that Ramadan
was about to begin. And what a joy it was to experience once again that feeling
of immense gratitude for this small window into the sacred life of another.
Just a few days earlier, I had the privilege of attending a
Faith House Manhattan gathering at the family home of one of the co-leaders, Samir
Selmanovic. The intention was to watch together and discuss the documentary
“Encounter Point”. I had no idea who would be there or what to expect, I just
knew that it ‘sounded like’ what I am looking for, the kind of church community
where people of different religions and professions of faith gather together,
bringing the mixture of belief and unbelief that we all possess, to a place
where we can freely explore our identity as human beings, simultaneously loved
and broken, seeking and failing. The only kind of Church that makes sense to me
these days. Why? Because worship should make us uncomfortable with things the
way they are – with the world now in our living room, we cannot pretend we
don’t know what’s happening in the lives of our brothers and sisters around the
globe. Globalization should not force us to retreat but rather to embrace the
compelling evidence that we can be one, not necessarily in practice, but in
spirit. The Christian tradition that I come from records Jesus at one point
crying out a prayer from the very depths of his agonizing heart, a plea to the
Father: “May they be one…as you and I are one” (from the Gospel of John 17:22).
The essence of religion is about growing in right
relationship, with our creator and with each other as human beings. But so
often we become trapped in defense mechanisms that support our need to be right
about what we believe…and this need to be ‘right’ most often does not lead to
‘right relationship’. I would describe myself as someone who is captivated by the
life of faith and all its implications. Along this journey I have become
convicted of what Rohr describes as “the tension between two worlds”. If we
allow the dominant call to be that of self-renewal and right relationship then
doors open, for peace and for unity in this world. I can no longer
simultaneously remain on this journey of faith and not be transformed by the
opportunities at hand to encounter the sacred stories and experience something
of what is of deep importance to others who do not necessarily share my
tradition. It does require stepping into the uncomfortable places. But how can
we not? The people I met that night surprised me with their generous
hospitality, their openness and eagerness to share. Their raw honesty in the
discussion left me walking away from Samir’s house that evening feeling enormously
enriched and enlightened (and challenged!). A voice somewhere within said, “This
is why you are here”. Another signpost for the journey!
Penny Elsley is a young Australian woman currently on a
journey around the world endeavoring to discover possibilities for connecting
young people of this generation through service and in a spirit of friendship
across the globe. At the moment Penny is interning with the Office of the
Chaplaincy at the Church Centre for the UN in New York. Her background is in
teaching, youth ministry and leadership. She is also a musician and songwriter.
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