The sun was setting on this gorgeous late summer day, and a thousand
or so people began gathering with candles on a hillside overlooking
Greenbelt Lake, to which I had walked from our nearby home, carrying
my guitar and a music stand. The occasion was an Interfaith Candlelight
Vigil program, called by the Greenbelt Interfaith Leadership Association
(GILA, an acronym which happens to mean "joy" in Hebrew).
Microphones were set up right on the walking path that winds for a
mile around this body of water that was created in the late 1930s when
the carefully designed and so-called "utopian" town of Greenbelt
was built by the US government. (The brand new town accepted religious
residents based on percentages of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish communities
in the surrounding area, and such diversity continues to flourish.)
The
hastily called Vigil was variously announced for 7:30 or 8:00, and a
significant portion of the crowd did come at 7:30. So while leaders
from local religious traditions (including Muslim, Jew, Unitarian Universalist,
Baha'i and Christian) caucused about the order in which they would offer
remarks and music, my
wife and co-minister, Barbara Wells, and I decided that we would
honor the early attendees by singing some additional tunes ahead of
the program. We sang, "Give Yourself to Love," "Cranes
Over Hiroshima," "Peace Like a River," and "Imagine,"
as folks continued to arrive.
Dan Hamlin, minister of the Greenbelt Community Church (UCC) and coordinator
of the Vigil, set the formal program in motion at 8:00, followed by
comments and prayers from our GILA colleagues from local Methodist,
Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jewish and Baha'i communities, plus
Barbara's reflections as a Unitarian Universalist. Interspersed with
those were pivotal contributions from our Muslim neighbors, Imam Malik
from Laurel, and a delegation of board members I had invited from our
nearby Prince Georges (County) Muslim Association (PGMA).
After I publicly received a $500 check for the American Red Cross from
the president of the PGMA, Syed Ahmad, short remarks were made by their
Imam Jeelani Gulam, and three other Muslim leaders, Ijaaz Malik, James
Baker, and Mohamed Shameem. Also in attendance was the president of
the Muslim Community Center of Silver Spring, Sabir Rahman, who had
invited me to speak at their prayer vigil last Friday night. They were
all in solidarity with their fellow Americans, and in grief over losses
suffered.
Songs Barbara and I sang in-between speakers included "Light One
Candle," "Give Light," "Spirit of Life," and,
for the closing, "Go Now in Peace," as a thousand candles
were raised overhead. Hugs and smiles dominated immediately afterward.
I suspect we were all moved by the importance of religious leaders giving
voice to the often-overlooked reality that what we share is far greater
than whatever might divide us, especially when there is such widespread
pain among us all.
Much good will has been exchanged with great hope between this area's
religious sub-cultures during the past week (not to mention many business
cards and e-mail addresses). After the vigil program was over, excited
mingling continued. At one point, I overheard some of the local Muslims
and our Greenbelt Rabbi Jonathan Cohen note where their teachings agree.
(The rabbi said an early Rabbinic text describes how when one kills
a single person it is as if they have killed the entire human race,
and when one saves a single person it is as if they have saved the entire
human race. Imam Gulam and another of the delegation concurred eagerly.)
This powerful evening of expressive unity and shared emotion, illuminated
by so many candles held aloft in hope, has helped me sustain the conviction
that we can defeat terrorism by building ever greater solidarity across
our cultural diversities. May it be so!
For more information on reaching out to the Muslim and Sikh communities,
see news coverage and President William Sinkford's
Pastoral letter"
