Listening Like Your Life Depended On It

The audience's role in creating a successful Multi-Faith Event: How Good Must I Be?   can not be understated. At the event the audience demonstrated a desire to understand and to learn by listening like their life depended on it.

Below are a few notes I have received since the event:

What a magnificent evening of thoughtful exchange you assembled at Canterbury last week. Congratulations on a really significant accomplishment. I wish I could have attended the  Taylor dialogue too.

This is remarkable work; may you continue to provide our community with this most sacred of sacraments: real, honest, meaningful connection.

Another great event. It is comforting & encouraging to see that the similarities of the different faiths far outweigh the differences. Exposed only to news media most would not realize that. Thanks for another outstanding job as moderator.  As a fellow Christian brother you are clearly a shining example of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessings to you.

Our Lord Christ is working through you to help bring peace into this world.  There is no greater work than what you are doing.  I just feel blessed to be a part of it, and I watch in amazement at your accomplishment through His Hand.

The use of lay persons provided a good transition to the normal relationship/dialogue among persons not trained specifically in theology. An evolution from top down to horizontal communication. 

You should know just how impressed I have been with your work on this. You put together a very clearly thought-out and executed event. Your comments leading into the evening last night were stellar and your facilitation of the dialogue was superb; you had a “light touch” (hard to accomplish). Well done Ramona! 

Excellent diversity of faiths. Straight forward presentations of each perspective.

Email from someone who watched the event on youtube:

I've been watching this morning, and I'm just captivated. I will be sure to attend the next event. Your events are like the best of college--the stimulating, fascinating discussion--without the test!

Multi-Faith Event on Youtube

The Multi-faith Event: How Good Must I Be? has been put on youtube. It has been uploaded in six clips.
Introduction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G6wgWNfPEU

Question 1: What constitutes wrongdoing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhQAewNabdk

Question 2: What are the consequences of our choices?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhQAewNabdk

Question 3: How good must we be?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aft7ZWxKPDg

Discussion: How do you deal with guilt? Clip 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoFoGWsXg7c&feature=youtu.be

Discussion on forgiveness and conclusion. Clip 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s5FPb_G09c&feature=relmfu

Thank you to Mary and Lance Clark for videotaping the event and to Maria Kirkland for taking pictures.

Interfaith Forum "Love Thy Neighbor"

Tuesday evening I moderated an Interfaith Forum at Taylor University. This was the first interfaith forum held at the university and it was the first time I have moderated an event away from Canterbury School. Taylor University http://www.taylor.edu/ is a Christian university located in Upland, Indiana. I have come to know several of the students from the university because of the multi-faith work I am doing in Fort Wayne. Many Taylor University students desire to learn how to live out their faith in a pluralistic world.

The Interfaith Forum was entitled Love Thy Neighbor. There were four faiths represented on the panel, Evangelical Christianity, Hindu, Islam, and Judaism. From my perspective, the evening was a wonderful success. It was evident the presenters were committed to dialogue. They were honest in portraying their own beliefs and they spoke from the heart. We realized that we do not have a common theology but we do have a common ethic. That common ethic is what makes us a community.

The presenters addressed three questions.

1. From the perspective of your faith and scriptures, respond to the statement "love thy neighbor."
2. Give a story from your scriptures that demonstrates love.
3. How has your faith helped you love someone (even when it was difficult)?

Through the dialogue we discovered that love is transformational, unselfish, goes beyond what is expected, and it is mercy demonstrated. All faiths agreed that it is the fear within that hinders loving thy neighbor. It was a wonderful evening; we learned about other faiths and we were challenged to love our neighbors.

Thank you Taylor University for allowing me to be involved in this important work.