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Following Jesus in nonviolent struggle for justice and peace, we love our neighbors and enemies as God loves us all, becoming a peace church to share in Gods work to save the world.

Reflections on an Interfaith Journey

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Reflections on A Sacred Season of Peace-Making * by Joan Haan
Part 1 of 4

Interfaith dialogue is not something I learned as a child. I grew up in Western Michigan where I recall but two interfaith experiences: my pediatrician, Dr. Johns, a kind and gentle Jewish man who gave me a sucker after every visit; and Doreen, the girl down the street, a Catholic who went to mass Saturday evening so that she could have the whole day to play on Sunday. My religious upbringing was conservative Christian Reformed; not shopping on Sunday, worshipping twice on Sunday, attending Christian Schools and a clear understanding of salvation.

This past Fall I was co-facilitator of an interfaith series: Peace and Violence in our Religious Traditions: a Twin Cities-Wide Interfaith Dialogue. This was my second experience in interfaith work; my first long term partnering relationship with Jews, Muslims, Christians and Baha’is. Professionally, I am an organization and relationship coach. My work is mirroring back to clients who they are and who they want to become; to look for evidence of what is trying to happen. Such is this interfaith work: seeing one’s self in others and seeing others in one’s self, finding the common and the distinguishing elements and, most importantly, seeing the Divine.

The following three articles are my reflections on the Series. I frame my thoughts based on the theme: A Sacred Season of Peace-Making: Speakers, Conversations and Celebrations. I share these as planner, co-facilitator and speaker. I also share these on a personal level, as a new traveler on the road of interfaith dialogue: looking in the mirror for the likeness of who I want to become on this journey, and what I have discovered.

I invite you to join me and reflect on your interfaith journey.
What is it to be a Christian peacemaker in dialogue with other religious traditions?

Joan Haan, M.A. CPCC
Member of ECAPC Board

* A Sacred Season of Peace-Making was a world wide effort to honor the holy days in the different Abrahamic traditions that came together during the fall of 2005, 2006 and 2007.

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