Multi - Faith Conversation pt. 2

I don’t know. For me, spirituality is more of an awareness, what you’re particularly aware of. That’s your spirituality. What you do to keep yourself aware of it are your practices. I think the experiential stuff we do – like the labyrinth, meditation, drumming – open doors for other people. There’s very little ‘content’, so you can fill that in yourself. As a Christian, I find that when we step down from our past position of prominence to include and enjoy other traditions, it elevates your own position. - Christian Pastor

In Judaism, spirituality is not something in your head. It’s something you do. Social justice and healing the world. Tikkun Olam. This is the foundation of liberal Judaism – you are there to make the world a better place. Secular Jews might say they don’t believe in God, but their actions show that they do. Even if people don’t like the traditional idea of God, I can agree. I say, “The God you don’t believe in, I don’t believe in either.” - Jewish Rabbi

It connects to an aspect of the sacred, we all experience it in one form or another. A reverent kind of thing. People seem to thirst for it, and look for a way to connect themselves to it. Many people thirst for something, and there always seems to be this piece of reverence. - Christian Priest

In Islam, there are the 5 daily prayers, but many more are possible. We have these mini-prayers for every little action. Everything is covered from the moment that you wake up until the moment that you fall asleep; everything has some connectedness through these daily mini-prayers. Many in my tradition that speak of spirituality are participating in Sufi, or visiting tombs or something. Some would say there is no spirituality in Islam, and others to say that there is only spirituality in Islam. - Muslim woman/leader

I don’t have a lot of programming. But my role in terms of spirituality is to practice an unconditional regard and acceptance. The grace and love of God. People come in to see us and they say, “Wow – thanks, though I’ve been in therapy, but this was different.” We bring an incarnational spirit – we bring with us a presence of the divine. I feel spirituality in terms of unconditional regard. - Christian Pastor

A phrase – ‘our innermost request.’ If there’s anything I can offer, it’s that I’m offering a time and a space that is welcoming and set aside for nothing but a time for that innermost request to have some time and some play in your life. Busy-ness can crowd it out. We often end up running on assumptions, and until there’s a time and place for stillness – we’re just running around. But if we stop to be present in the midst of our lives, to evaluate what that innermost request is, then we might understand why we’re running around. When people come to a prayer cushion, it’s their innermost request that brings them there. - Zen Buddhist Monk