We all drink from one water
We all breathe from one air
We rise from one ocean
And we live under one sky

Remember
We are one

The newborn baby cries the same
The laughter of children is universal
Everyone’s blood is red
And our hearts beat the same song

Remember
We are one

We are all brothers and sisters
Only one family, only one earth
Together we live
And together we die

Remember
We are one

Peace be on you
Brothers and Sisters
Peace be on you.

~Anwar Fazel

Yesterday I had the immense privilege to participate in an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service hosted at our church. This service is held every year on Thanksgiving morning and culminates a five week interfaith dialogue that is conducted by the Minneapolis downtown churches. The worship service rotates between the houses of worship and, very ten years or so, it is our turn. The service is led by several clergy from Protestant Christian communities, a priest from the Basilica of St. Mary, a rabbi from Temple Israel, a minister from the Unitarian Society and one of the imams from a Muslim house of worship. These clergy know one another as colleagues and friends and that respect and love they have for one another is visible.

Also in worship were people representing each of these communities. As we lifted our voices in song and shared prayers, I wondered whether a stranger to what was actually happening would understand the power of what they were observing. As we heard the sacred texts of each tradition read in Hebrew and sung in Arabic and translated and read in English, I thought of all the beauty in the languages, how they had held people together for centuries. As we heard the President’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation read and then joined our voices in singing together ‘America the Beautiful’, I looked around the gathered crowd to see tears that matched those on my own cheeks. It was truly a powerful moment of a shared sense of unity.

Later in the day I reflected on the courage and commitment it takes to build relationships as these people have done, as our congregations have tried to do. For the years these interfaith conversations have happened, much has happened in our world that would seek to divide our faith traditions. Institutional dogma has tried. Warring factions have tried. Political parties have tried. Those who profess to speak for their interpretation of any one of the traditions have tried.

But these downtown congregations keep coming back to the table. To drink coffee and eat cookies together. To ask one another the big questions, not only of our faith, but of our very lives. To try to understand what it means to practice a 21st century faith that found its birth thousands of years ago. To find a thread within our common humanity that binds us together for our day, for our time. To build a sense of understanding and respect for the traditions of the other.

Such courage, such faith, such compassion and commitment filled me with pride on this day set aside for gratitude. Pride and a deep, deep hope.