It’s easy to lose heart with so many news stories focused on the conflict, cruelty and discord in our communities, perpetuating our differences and fraying social fabric.
But there is good will to be found – especially among area houses of worship opening doors to promote discussion and fellowship. These faith leaders of churches, synagogues and mosques are accepting the crucial role they can play in helping us look past differences to discover all we have in common.
I witnessed this unifying dialogue attending an “Evening of Prayer for Peace” at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Alpharetta. It was part of a larger effort by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops to confront challenges of “race relations, restorative justice, mental health, economic opportunity and pervasive gun violence.”
The evening stayed focused on the small group of a hundred or so who’d taken time from their Friday night to gather with neighbors of different backgrounds to sing, march, pray and mostly to engage in what soon became some very emotional and moving dialogue.
And though various faith leaders attended, they sat and listened intently as individuals of differing ages, ethnicities, races and religions rose to express their feelings and tell stories of racial hurts, cultural misunderstandings, and, in some cases, surprising acts of kindness.
Monsignor Daniel Stack, pastor of St. Thomas, started the event by stressing that peace can only begin with respect and regard for others. Following that, a light-hearted exercise by corporate trainer Kenneth Lewis had us choosing what type of music we enjoyed– like classical, country or hip-hop. We then used adjectives to describe traits we associated with other music. The exercise exposed our biases.
Lewis — who with his wife, Jeanetta, were among the first African-American graduates of the University of Alabama — proved expert at explaining bias. He called it a system of “exaggerated belief or distorted truth.” As people associate with others sharing the same bias, he said, they lose the ability to distinguish individual traits in people. That leads to stereotyping.
In response, emotional, almost confessional tales arose from members, some with immigrant backgrounds. They related frustrating times of feeling unwelcome and misunderstood, of being racially profiled or simply ignored.
One woman said that when people heard her accent, they were more curious about where she was from than who she was. A black man then said when he first entered the Navy he got in a fight with a white Marine, but became friends over common purpose.
Such stories opened a floodgate of feelings as speakers told tales of being African-American, Mexican, and Islamic in America. One woman also reminded us that little children and the old, ill and disabled are also often ignored by society.
“All we really need to do is to love God and treat others as we would ourselves,” proclaimed one woman to warm applause. The evening concluded in a prayer for peace and hugs of happy friendship.
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