Photos from the event

INTERFAITH PEACE PARTY (8 DECEMBER 2001):
A Report by Dr. Malcolm Nazareth

Working Things out:

We fixed a date in December, contacted our circles of friends and acquaintances by word of mouth, phone, and e-mail, and together began to shape our Interfaith Peace Party. The response from all quarters was overwhelming and supportive as usual. After September 11 there has been a general need for people to more frequently meet across traditional boundaries of religion, race, ethnicity, and culture. Celebrations of life and diversity may be a perfect antidote to the creeping situation of hate, fear, anxiety, and depression that has been permeating US society and culture in the past couple months. As usual the Center for Interfaith Encounter (CIE) called for a celebration in which peoples of diverse communities would share ethnic foods, songs, dances, prayers, and readings and have fun and games together.

How Things Turned Out:
Setting:

Nearly 60 people from 12 different religious groups and representing at least 7 diverse cultural backgrounds (including Vietnamese, Somali, Ojibwe, Malaysian, and African American, for example) showed up at Elaine's from 6 p.m. The hostess, who graciously welcomed the guests, was attractively dressed in an Indian saree complete with bangles on her forearm and a matching bindiya dot on her forehead. Other women also showed up in ethnic dresses, for example, Somali women veiled in burkha and full gowns, South Asian women draped in saree, and a Malaysian woman wearing her colorful traditional dress. Other women's dresses had Native American and African American overtones. It seemed as if the women had arrived that night with a secret multicultural plan to spice up the dress code. There was much color and beauty to match the fully lighted Christmas tree that adorned the living room. As Mary T. Howard e-mailed me the same night, "Elaine's home was a perfect setting."

Nourishing Body/Mind/Spirit:

Potluck food was laid out in separate rooms for vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. Dessert and drinks were easily accessible in the kitchen. At 6.30 Elaine struck a Buddhist prayer bowl thrice to call everybody to join in a song of praise to Godde "for health, and wealth, and daily food." That signaled the auspicious moment for a general assault on the goodies. The kids, who were engrossed in playing ball in the basement, chose to come up later at their leisure for dinner. People moved around and partook of the sumptuous buffet spread. They sat and engaged in conversation in what seemed to be a very full house. During the meal Elaine and Mariani went around distributing little sheets of blank paper for people to write out their prayers for peace.

Around 7.45 p.m. sounding of the prayer bowl once again served to bring people together--this time to gather and participate in an hour's Interfaith Prayer session. Faith traditions represented at the offerings of prayers, reflections, readings, and songs/chants were Native American Ojibwe (Smudging Ceremony), Catholic and Protestant Christian, Unitarian Universalist, Islamic, Sikh, Jewish, Baha i, Earth-Centered/Wiccan, African American, New Age/AncientWisdom/Ecclectic, Unification, Quaker, and Urantia.

Malcolm marked the beginning and end of each presentation with a sounding of the prayer bowl. Each time he announced a new presentation, he thanked the previous presenter. He drew attention to the fact that Ramadan, the holy month of Islamic fasting was going on, that the Jewish feast Chanukkah was about to commence in a few days, and that Kwanzaa, an African American festival, was a couple weeks away, around Christmastime. People sat in chairs, sofas, or on the floor, or else simply stood during that hour of respect shown to spiritualities of different faith-families from around the world. The theme of the gathering was peace. Presenters addressed that theme from the vantage point of their specific religious tradition. The experience of reverently attending to a peace celebration as a multicultural community was itself evocative of harmony in diversity. Various nuances of peace were addressed. Warmth and receptiveness toward all faiths is what pervaded the atmosphere all night long but especially during that sacred hour.