* Interfaithing ( /ˈintərˈfāTHiNG/) might not be a legitimate Mariam-Webster approved English noun. I learned it from OSU_IFCS among many other cool stuff.
First of all, Merry Christmas to all of you !
I enjoyed my time at the joyful celebration of Christmas Eve at the Whiteside theater. In their event titled ‘Emmanuel’ I liked their music, the happiness of everyone around there, how lively and full of laughter everyone was, And the great causes that it was for: To celebrate an important evening and to raise funds for the Jackson Street Youth Shelter !
What really stayed in my mind that they welcomed everyone. Those followers of Jesus and those who are not… I appreciate such inclusivity*. For me I considered myself among the first group .. I love Jesus and consider myself devoted to his mission. And indeed I appreciate how inclusive welcoming message reflects Jesus’s mission.
* Side note: my spelling checker is underlining the word inclusivity with a red line, it’s suggesting me to use ” exclusivity ” .. huh !
All of this brought me to a little thoughts I liked to write …
Interfaithing
I’m really privileged to be raised in a multicultural and interfaith environment. I used to study in a mix of public and private Saudi schools in towns full of Muslims from different schools of thought and various faiths. Even in Islam you would find the very wide spectrum of schools of thought that differ in practices and even in faith and conceptual details. That never put me aside from going through conflicts, discussions and arguments that I’m very grateful to !
From my own prospective and experience, being in a mono-faith setting might lead to inability to appreciate what others believe in, and what does their faith mean. This is a humble prospective that could be completely wrong. But for me I didn’t really understand what Christianity mean to its follower without being in discussions and conversations with an Orthodox Christian family friends. They even allowed me to see a wider spectrum of Christianity in respect with Orthodox and Catholic schools. Being in the states helped me appreciate even a wider spectrum among Protestant churches. In brief I realized as more I meet and more I know as more my appreciation of diversity will be. And my stereotyping of a ‘typical believer’ will be less.
Do you wonder what religions came for ? I think many religions in the first place came for a simple but important concept : Individualizing freedom of belief. They came to free our spiritual affiliation. Religions, again from my own prospective, help us to individuality be closer to our spiritual wellness.
Spirituality of the collective ?
We might gather in groups, not to follow what the collective say, but to better understand with them what does faith mean for me. Groups should provide us strength of such faith freedom. They should never weaken such freedom. they should empower it by helping us discussing our doubts and guide us to reach spiritual wellness.
Interfaith Conflicts ?!
Sadly, strong conflicts come from not appreciating this thing. I have witnessed and experienced very intimate relationships hurt or even broke because of the lack of appreciation. “you’r wrong and it doesn’t work like that… you aren’t a true believer if such and such…” Having such arguments again and again lead into one thing: hindering the freedom of individuals to reach their own spiritual wellness by guidance rather than just showing them the boundaries of exclusion from belief.
If I’m walking through a fuzzy field, I’ll appreciate the guidance that will show me how to walk, how to advance in my journey. What was your experience and story..However, Showing me where not to fall or where not harm myself (boundaries of exclusion from certain belief) is important, yet it’s not everything in the journey !
My beloved girl name : Maryam !
So here I talked about interfaithing and spirtuality… Some thoughts could be relevant, and could be not, about my beloved, Maryam … aka. Mary.
She’s the only women name mentioned in the holy script of Quran. I loved her story that mentioned her toughest journey. In my deepest points of appointments or fear I remember when she said ” O’ would that I had died before this and had become a thing quite forgotten ! (19:24)” She was in a state of grieve and lack of resources of survival. It inspires me how god took care of her and showed her how she could figure out how to survive through her situation. Surely many lessons Jesus and his blessed mother Maryam aka. Mary inspired many of us regardless off our faith fellowship.
Prayer to Mary …
If I had the chance to talk to her, I’ll consider conveying her my prayers, Thanking her and telling her that she’s never forgotten. And she’s remembered for everything good and pure. Maryam: Strength you gained is giving me and giving many young men and women the patience and strong belief. Despite how people might disappoint us or perceive us mistakenly. We shall always remember to carry the righteous principles and actions. As they will speak for us. Just like how Jesus have spoken for you.
Peace be upon you and your son.
Thoughts to think about .. or thoughts not to think about ?
I’ve been lately in discussions that engaged doubts about wither it is really Dec25th the real date of birth ? Should greetings be exchanged between believers of different religions that believe in Jesus ? Should (we) celebrate it ? How should (we) celebrate it without harming ‘spiritual identity’ of those of different believes?
Despite if these questions really need to be answered or not, I came to the conclusion that it is everyone’s responsibility to go through their own journey about these questions. Just remember; be inclusive … and be yourself.
At the end I would like to share couple of clips from Quran both from (Chapter of Mary) :
- 10 Minutes subtitled clip recites the specific verses (19: 16 to 19:36) on Mary’s story of delivering Jesus with a background video about the story.
- Full subtitled recitation of all verses in chapter of Mary, that includes mention of Zacharias, John aka. Yahya, Mary, Jesus and Abraham.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6z33vZdib4
I wish you a Merry Christmas , enjoyable time with family and beloved ones. One final note, if you like what I’m sharing here, I would appreciate your feedback comments :).
Sami
