If we want peace, it has to start with us. We must uproot violence from our language, in the ways we relate to one another.

The Tarrying Place represents the wit and wisdom of the community of more than one hundred women-folx who make up our ever-expanding Circle, each of whom is engaged in their own life’s journey to activist-centered self and community care reflected in our guiding mantras.

Auburn gathered individual groups of Black, Latinx, and White leaders of faith and moral courage to discuss what it means to belong to each other in a profoundly divided world.

Decompress. Share. Feel seen. Be real. Stay as anonymous as you wish. Your parishioners, congregants, local colleagues, subordinates, and superiors needn’t know that you are cracking around the edges, losing hope, etc.

The Center for Open and Relational Theology exists to promote... open and relational thinking, networking among like-minded people, projects that build upon or advance open and relational ideas, announce news, and provide open and relational theology resources.

The Charter created a Islamophobia Handbook a few years ago. The first section, "Speaking Out and Taking Action," may be very helpful to all of us as we navigate through these difficult times.

The Interfaith Family Journal is an invaluable resource for couples and family members practicing different religions (or none). Interactive exercises and creative activities help interfaith families decide how they want to honor their histories, cultures, and beliefs in ways that nurture joy, creativity, and empowerment.

An outside-the-box, modern rabbi from Portland, Oregon explains the Jewish messages of Jesus. Rabbi Brian’s style is approachable, warm, honest and quirky. He quotes Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy to help explain the intent of the phrase “I am the way the truth and the life. No one gets to the Father except through me.”

Fifteen of the individuals profiled here are Jewish and fifteen are Christian. The biographies feature “pioneers” who were highly active some decades ago as well those who are “contemporary voices.” You can view, download or print these biographies.

This abundance of youth resources – collected from around the world – is very encouraging in terms of the future.

In May 2017, people from all over the world will gather in Portland, Oregon to share knowledge and wisdom, learn from each other, celebrate, be inspired, and find the tools needed to create and enliven local movements within our communities. Together we will explore sacred oneness, Christ consciousness, eco-spirituality, social justice and the way of universal and personal transformation that honors the Divine in all.

When you live in nature, in the scent of flowers, in the blessed light of the day and the sweet dew of the morning, you don't have questions, you simply live and joy together with them. Your heart opens, you cry, cry, and your eyes are wet with dew. This is how this song was born, when your body, mind, and soul opens, God steps next to you in an unguarded moment, and pours her treasures into you.

Life is full of these kinds of sacred signs, when we are open to them. They are like the sign posts pointing us down the paths of our dreams. They are like the nudges our loving mothers give us to move forward in spite of our fears. They are the reminders of what we already know but have mostly forgotten, like the dreams that fade when awakening. I know I am on the right path, when things easily fall into place and magical moments occur.

Spirit of mercy Be my guide Shalom

These curricula can be used with a broad range of constituencies including schools, youth groups, universities, community groups and grassroots interfaith organizations. And these resources address a broad range of issues including education, social justice, ecology, peace-building, conflict-resolution, spirituality, diversity and global consciousness.

Interfaith peacemaking cannot be limited to a religious “program.” Rather, it is integral to the well-being of all humankind. This vision encompasses both ethical practice as well as public policy-making in our local communities. It challenges faith communities to develop spiritual grounding for people that enables them to hold their own religious truths, while at the same time respecting the religious truths of their neighbors.

“I GREET THAT OF THE COSMOS WITHIN YOU”

THEME The Complexities of Spirituality THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION Instead of concentrating on what we think is wrong with other world religions, our time could be spent more profitably on identifying what we have in common.

“Faith Fight”—that’s what the local news is calling it. Eight churches in Fountain Hills, Arizona, led by the Rev. Bill Good, pastor of

Shalom, Shalom, Shalom, Shalom.

We eat and drink these fruits of earth that love may grow between us all, between us all.

What will be the unifying principle behind this community? Is love and mutual support enough to hang it together? Will some distinctive message or activity or ritual be necessary to give the group an identity and a reason to continue gathering? The experiment is just getting started. The evidence and the conclusions are not in. Meanwhile, Bart's experiment has the attention of secular humanists nationwide. He's not a theist any more, but he's not a normal atheist, either.

Live recording of Climbing PoeTree's "Awakening" poem featuring Leah Song on vocals and Biko Casini on Ngoni.

May the food that we eat And the friends that we share Give us strength for spreading True justice and peace.

American-born Muslim young people, growing up post 9/11, are more marked as just-plain-Muslims than they are as Ismaili or Sunni or Shia or Ahmadjyya or Sufi Muslims. Or Turkish or Syrian or Jordanian or Saudi Muslims. They've been thrust into a wide realm of choice by historical circumstance. There's no one way to do their faith, and for some this opens the door to creative expressions of their religion.

Ultimately, Tension in the Tank is about faith that is relevant, secure and ever-evolving. It is a guidebook for building meaningful relationships with Spirit, self and each other. Radically open to possibility and wonder, Tension in the Tank offers the opportunity and challenge to live our faith in such a way that the walls between us come down and we become pursuers and enactors of universal justice.

We are here to praise and enjoy God with body and soul, mind and heart, with song and word, with hands and feet. We are here to give because of the abundance God has given us, to share with each other, and to receive, because God has created us to depend on each other. We are here to celebrate the differences that otherwise might divide us: differences of age, of body, of culture, of opinion, of ability, of religious conviction. We are here to put things in perspective: to celebrate what matters, to laugh about things we take too seriously, to cry about things that truly touch our hearts. So may it be this morning: Amen!

Varun Soni argues that Khan and Marley, among other artists at present and in the recent past, situate themselves in long lineages of religious prophecy while expressing prophetic traditions in distinct ways that reflect cultural globalization and technological advances. Music is a more powerful medium for prophecy than ever before, now that it has the potential for instantaneous global reach. Varun names this phenomenon “pop-propheticism”, characterized by canonical recitation (referencing ancient lines of prophetic utterance), mystical intoxication with the Divine (whether through spiritual practices or by ingesting mind-altering substances), musical fusion (stretching traditional musical boundaries to reach new audiences), media proliferation (taking advantage of new and emerging communication channels), economic commodification (making the most of the global musical marketplace), and political appropriation (putting music consciously in the service of social change).

Impending marriage often leads couples to learn more about their traditions of origin. And that study can lead to confrontation with the question of religious pluralism. Is my partner going to hell unless she accepts Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior – really? Is my partner’s Hinduism possibly as good a path to Ultimate Reality as my Islamic faith is for me?

Mother of all life, soul of our being, center of all our longing, who shines for all and flows through all, Be with us, guide us, now and always.