I attended the Boise interfaith Thanksgiving service at St. John's Cathedral tonight. It was a beautiful program that started and ended with the blowing of the shofar, representing Judaism. In between, Dr. Said Ahmed-Zaid of the local Islamic community offered a prayer reminding us how Abraham's tent was open on all four sides to serve all people; Mayor David Bieter welcomed the standing-room-only congregation to his home parish and read a Thanksgiving proclamation; people from the Buddhist, Baha'i, and LDS traditions added their wisdom; and the Rev. Steve Tollefson of the Cathedral of the Rockies/First United Methodist Church delivered a sermon about serving the neediest in our community. In fact, collections were taken for both the Idaho Food Bank (with barrels overflowing) and the Sanctuary homeless shelter.
As we finished singing the recessional hymn, I noticed that a bearded man in a winter coat was sitting on the steps facing the congregation. He looked like he may have been homeless, and he definitely looked a little dazed at the wall of song surrounding him. But his presence there, on this night, served as a perfect reminder of what we'd all heard, and why we were all there - one community, many faiths, loving and respecting and working with each other to do God's work, whoever or whatever we perceive God to be.
Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. Earlier today, I saw a new-to-me ad from the United Church of Christ - one in its awesome "God is still speaking" series. (You can see them all here.) The "Steeples" ad drives home the idea that our faith communities ought to be inclusive, not exclusive. It's a beauty.
that sounds really lovely.
Posted by: sharon fisher | November 24, 2006 at 09:19 AM