by admin on September 26, 2011
Building Bridges through Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation
In an age of globalization where everything we do is connected and dependent on others, it is crucial that we are working to build bridges across nations, cultures, and religions. Religion or spirituality is one of the core aspects of cultures and nations, and an influential presence in all areas of society. Throughout history, religion has often been used as a divisive force for conflict and war; however, the growing interfaith movement around the world provides an alternative of empathy and understanding, which our world so desperately needs today. Recognizing the great importance of developing interfaith relations, the Euphrates Institute has become a member organization of the United Religions Initiative and is engaging with interfaith communities to build bridges across religious divides.
This fall, Euphrates Intern Sarah Oakes, will be heading up the Interfaith Committee, with Fellows, Jewelle Matheny, Ifi Xifre, and Kimberly Sheasley. Over the course of the fall semester, the fellows will be researching the three monotheistic faiths and blogging regularly about their insights and discoveries. With a deep interest in promoting religious diversity and acceptance, the team will be engaging in the following activities to promote interfaith work: researching and blogging weekly about interfaith and religious issues, participating in interfaith dialogue groups throughout the community, organizing an interfaith event, and engaging with the Principia College community to promote a message of religious compassion and acceptance across the campus.
Keep tuned each week to hear updates and inspiring stories of what the Interfaith Committee at Euphrates is doing!
Sarah Oakes
Introducing the Fellows:
My name is Ifigenia Xifré and I am a Junior at Principia College. As a fellow of the Euphrates Institute, I am part of a group that will be learning about different faiths and religions. My focus this semester will be Judaism. I am not an expert on the subject, but I am very excited to be conducting my own research about a religion that is very different from my own. As I learn, I will try to tackle some of the “myths” or misconceptions about the religion. Because our goal is to build bridges to the Middle East, it is important to have real knowledge about the kind of thinking that influence people’s actions, and root out misconceptions that might just get in the way of interfaith understanding. This is all I have to say for now… but stay tuned; I will be blogging!
Ifigenia Xifré
Hey all! My name is Jewelle and I am a fellow for Euphrates Institute working on the Interfaith Committee. I am a junior majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Sociology/Anthropology. I am really excited to be working on the Interfaith Committee, because I am currently taking a Living Religions of the East. I have been learning about the differences between religions, but was has amazed me most is discovering the many similarities that these religions all hold. Every religion is really just trying to do the right thing in this life, learn, grow and love more. I feel this is why Interfaith work and awareness is so important. I will be researching Islam and debunking some myths behind this popular religion that is misunderstood today. I will be exploring many topics including: sects of Islam, Mohammad, religious rules or Hadith, God and gender issues. More to come on October 9th!
Jewelle Matheny
Hi! My name is Kimberly and I am a freshman at Principia College. I am a new Euphrates Fellow participating in the Interfaith Committee. For the next few months, I am going to explore Christianity, and dive into the different sects of the Christian faith. I plan on exploring several myths and concerns that people have about Christianity. I want to answer questions like: Do they worship Jesus? Are Christians the only ones who are saved and go to heaven? What value does the Bible have for Christians? How are women and homosexuals treated in the church? Do Christians have two conflicting natures? What is the difference between the Protestant and Catholic churches? Do the different Christian faiths get along with each other? These are just a few ideas that I will study and examine to get a better understanding of different Christian beliefs and ideals. I am very excited to be onboard with the Interfaith Committee, and I look forward to watching false perceptions fade away as bridges are built to close the religious gap among faiths.
Kimberly Sheasley
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by admin on September 23, 2011
We’ve witnessed a historic day as Palestinians formally requested the United Nations Security Council to grant it full membership as a state. Israeli and American leaders opposed this direct move, reiterating that the only way to achieve long-term peace and to create a state is through a negotiated settlement.
Have you ever wanted to better understand this intractable conflict that perennially occupies the world stage? Have you wondered if there were reasons for hope amidst the headlines of despair? We invite you to go to the source—to meet directly with Israelis and Palestinians from all walks of life and backgrounds, and to learn how you can make a difference in an issue that directly affects Americans—and the world.
We have two exciting ways for you to visit the region this winter.
- Euphrates’ three week trip to Israel and the West Bank, “Connecting Global and Personal Transformation” is from January 2-20, 2012. The deadline to register is just one week away, September 30! (Trip in partnership with Educare Unlearning Institute.) Register today!
- Our student semester abroad to Israel, West Bank, and Jordan, mid-January-April on “Peace and Sustainability in the Middle East,” in partnership with the Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL).
Click here for more information and join us for either of these grand adventures!
Additional Information:
Middle East Trip: Connecting Global and Personal Transformation
January 2–20, 2012
Interested in joining Euphrates and Educare for a deeply transformative program taught on the shores of the Galilee, and applied and reinforced immediately by a two and a half-week trip throughout Israel?
In keeping with our mission to build bridges with the Middle East by focusing on what unites rather than divides us, we are partnering with the Educare Learning Institute to face transformation as we meet locals, professional peace builders, and visit historic Bible sites.
All participants will attend a tailored program called Living Beyond Our Stories taught by Sandy Wilder, Janessa Gans Wilder, and her husband Forrest as we tour Israel and the West Bank.
Living Beyond Our Stories focuses on Personal Awakening and Interpersonal Communication so the content learned will be reinforced by immediate opportunities for application in a setting that is yearning for peace. We will take a deep look at how our self-concepts are formed and how we unconsciously live in “stories” that determine our view of reality. Through a process of unlearning we will learn to release the beliefs, concepts, opinions and stories that create limiting self-images, views of others and worldviews.
We will explore and practice a listening/communication model that allows us to deeply listen to others. Through this listening we will learn to help others deeply inquire and tap into their own space of clarity and inspiration.
Equipped with our deepened self-awareness and listening abilities we will meet with Israelis and Palestinians as they share their individual stories based on their history and collective narratives. We will understand and experience:
• The foundational beliefs behind the longest running continuous conflict in the world today.
• Why the violence continues.
• The history of the conflict, what happened, how, why?
• The stranglehold the past has on their present view of reality.
• The cycles of victim and victimizers on both sides.
More than cognitive learning and an awareness of history, we will use our daily experiences to reflect deeply so as to allow grace to release whatever reinforces our own belief in separation. We will find ourselves listening through new eyes and an open heart as we watch our natural compassion and clarity pour forth, increasing our desire for connection and oneness with all life.
Click here to view a detailed description of the itinerary from January 2 to 20, 2012.
Registration deadline is September 30, 2011. Our program allows for 10 – 17 participants, so register today to reserve your spot! For more information regarding pricing, age and fitness, trip leader biographies, and detailed registration, visit our website.
Register today! (scroll to “Middle East Trip” at the bottom)
Middle East Program Student Semester with CELL/Euphrates
January – April 2012
Are you interested in:
- Learning about the possibilities of peace and sustainability in the Middle East?
- Visiting fascinating historic and scenic areas of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan?
- Gaining understanding and a first-hand appreciation of the religious, historical,political, and cultural background of the region and the conflict?
- Volunteering with peace and/or sustainability organizations, including some cross border cooperative sustainability initiatives?
- Taking a leadership role in peace/sustainability once you return home?
- Receiving 15 college credits while integrating classroom knowledge with real-life applications?
- Making a difference and being changed in the process?
If so, we invite you to join us for a transformative learning adventure in the Middle East!
CELL’s Middle East program focuses on a theme of sustainability and peace building. Explore the work of various organizations in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan. See inspiring peace building efforts as well as environmental sustainability initiatives, some of which involve cooperative efforts across boundaries. You will visit and learn about some of the peace and sustainability initiatives in the region, including those which bring cross border cooperation through focus on sustainability. You will also visit some of the many historic and scenic areas as well as learn more about the religious, historical, political, and cultural background of the region and the conflict.
How do I apply?
For information on CELL’s application process, see the How to Apply page.
For more information, e-mail Sue Oakes or call +1 (207) 975-9711. We look forward to having you join us for this unique sustainability/peace program.
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Don’t forget to check out our upcoming Summit Our World Beyond 9/11 on Oct 27th and 28th, and register today!
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by admin on September 19, 2011
Classical music concerts on the West Coast, talks and gatherings in DC, ceremonies in downtown St. Louis, and a prayer wall in Elsah — these are just some of the eight ways in which Euphrates commemorated the ten-year mark of 9/11/01 last weekend.
Watch this video blog from our Fellows as they explain how they honored the ten-year mark of 9/11 at Principia College.
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by admin on September 9, 2011
Euphrates founder Janessa Gans Wilder was a panelist for an event on September 8th at the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC. Below are some of the thoughts she shared on the topic of a healing perspective we can bring to the ten-year mark of 9/11.
How can we, as spiritual thinkers, best approach the ten year anniversary of 9/11?
9/11 is a good chance to take stock of how the world has changed the past ten years—what have been the key challenges and what type of thinking underlies those challenges. Is it not fear, revenge, hatred, divisions, lack?
And what is the way forward? Albert Einstein once said that “problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.” So, we really need to be operating on a different, higher level of consciousness to truly address and solve these problems. All the major faiths provide us the roadmap—some form of the Golden Rule—do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Bible also tells us that “there is neither Jew nor Greek,” that we are all one, and that we should love our neighbors, as well as even our enemies!
What was your personal involvement in 9/11?
I was sitting in a military briefing at the United States Strategic Command south of Omaha, Nebraska. A military official came in and whispered in the briefer’s ear and he appeared visibly shaken. He announced that a plane had hit one of the twin towers and that we would have to adjourn the briefing and move in to another room. We crowded around television screens as we watched the second plane hit the tower. Moments later, we had to evacuate the base as President Bush was on his way there to the secure bunker.
What impact did that experience have on you initially?
Just as the announcement came, my colleague who worked in the counterterrorism office turned to a few of us and whispered, “It’s a terrorist attack. It’s Osama bin Laden.” I, on the other hand, was shocked and stunned; I had the distinct feeling that nothing was going to be the same again, including my own life. I had just undergone training at the agency looking at other intelligence failures—Pearl Harbor and the fall of the Shah in Iran. I thought, “how did we miss it again?” I immediately transferred from working on Africa to the Middle East. I spent two years in the Afghanistan office and then from 2003-2005, I served in Baghdad. My motivation was similar to other Americans—I wanted to understand why it happened and ensure that it never did again.
Over the past 10 years how has your thinking changed or evolved from that experience?
Exacting revenge for wrongs done is the “eye for an eye” mentality and is too old school! In the words of Gandhi, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” The only antidote to fear, hatred, malice, is love. It’s not about fighting fire with fire.
How can we prayerfully address the seemingly intractable cycles of fear or violence?
As we pray about them and root them out of our own thought and our own lives, we demonstrate that we have dominion over them—that there are more powerful forces. What is it that casts out fear? Love. Violence comes from the root word—violate. So, as we refuse to violate others in our thought and our own lives, we realize there’s a way to stop these cycles. Each person living this becomes a security zone, where hate, fear, and violence have no foothold. And he/she also becomes a light to others.
From your own experience, what root causes of 9/11 need to be addressed today?
Catching the drips from a leaky faucet does not fix the faucet. The root causes must be addressed—fear, ignorance, division, lack of security, fall of innocence, the “Other”, victimization, oppressors, terrorism, envy, hatred, revenge, humiliation, lack of opportunity, economic advancement.
What progress have we made since 9/11 in addressing these issues?
In many ways, we have made progress both at home and abroad. Visionaries all over the US and the Middle East are working on the basis of common ground and of addressing and rooting out these modes of thought in their own communities. Look at the Arab Spring, which showed us an entirely new face of the Arab world—one calling for human rights and democracy, rather than jihad, and one armed with facebook and twitter rather than guns and bombs. In other areas, such as the rise of Islamophobia in the U.S. there seems to still be a great deal of fear.
What role can one individual’s prayer have in countering terrorism (at home and abroad)?
Terrorism’s primary weapon has to be fear because it lacks the real power to make change by other means. So when we pray to be delivered from fear, we are defeating terrorism.
“One with God is a majority.” There is infinitely more power in good than in evil. If nothing else, you can stop lending your voice and power to it. I stopped being overwhelmed by the death and destruction and turned my efforts to nation-building.
In other words, how do I know that my prayers are having an effect?
My experience by the Euphrates river in Iraq, I got rid of fear and the myopic focus that overwhelmed me in the face of evil. I chose to focus on the good and I immediately brought more of that into my experience. I think we can all do that. It’s not to sweep the bad under the rug. It’s to acknowledge it and deal with it, but not lending your emotional and thoughtful weight to it. It can never stand up to the power of good.
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