Nothing challenges the planners of massive interfaith gatherings so much as selecting proposed workshops for a schedule that lasts but a few days. The planners of the Salt Lake City Parliament of the World’s Religions received more than 2,000 workshop proposals hoping to shoehorn their way into the October 15-19 schedule.
Developing Interfaith Education, Starting with the Heart
Compounding the growing global refugee crisis, news this summer suggests the possibility of leaving behind a generation of Arab youth who have lost their schools and universities to war. Rob kids of their education and beware the consequences. Globally, of course, this horror extends far beyond Arabs and should serve as a wake-up call to educators everywhere about education and the future.
Creativity and the Spirit
The notion supporting this month’s issue is that the ‘arts,’ defined broadly, mediate ‘spirit and truth’ in ways religion cannot, particularly if you take religion to be doctrine, rules, and organization. Of course religion uses the arts in all sorts of ways, which muddies and makes more complex the relationship between our creative energies and what we hold to be true and important. Indeed, for the ancient Greeks as with most indigenous traditions, painting, sculpture, dance, music, and story emerge out of ritual and spiritual practice, where the artist and practitioner are one and the same.
Spiritual Practice and Everyday Life in a Digital World
Spirituality & Practice is a website with 27,000 webpages, each a resource for individuals and communities seeking spiritual wisdom and guidance in their everyday lives. The site receives about 1.5 million unique visitors each year (more than 6,000 every day), who click on 5 million page-links. The site also hosts more than 100 online on-demand e-courses, all having to do with spiritual practice. Thousands sign up each year for the modestly priced courses. Hundreds of books and movies have been reviewed, and spiritual leaders from dozens of different religious traditions, alive or passed, are profiled, quoted, and linked to additional resources. S&P includes blogs, “Praying the News,” curricula, videos, galleries, poetry and stories, and more.
More Interfaith Spiritual Resources
While there is a rising group of Americans who don’t identify with any religious label, many of them are pursuing spirituality without being boxed into one faith. Historically, spirituality has usually been associated with a specific tradition, but that is changing. Today, for some, interfaith spirituality can mean belonging to more than one faith group. For others it can be observing multiple diverse religious rituals while on your spiritual journey. For others it can be just going on a Sunday morning hike with religiously diverse friends. Whatever your path, here is a list of resources to help you start exploring interfaith spirituality:
What You Should Know about "Spirituality & Practice"
The pilgrim typing “spirituality” into an internet browser these days will receive 225,000,000 hits in the flash of a second. Buyers beware. Virtual religion/spirituality is an unchartered territory where anyone with the inclination can put up a “shingle” on the web. Knowing whom to trust is a major consideration for the spiritual seeker who turns to the web for resources and support.
Three Ways To Find Excellent Interfaith Resources
The proliferation of ‘interfaith resources’ is an embarrassment of riches. Googling the matter draws more than 5 million items in under half a second. And most at the top of the list are sectarian products – that is, interfaith resources created by this, that, or the other faith tradition – even when it is not obvious. So how do you find the best resources available?