Understanding

This evening the Rothko Chapel held it's 30th Annual Houston Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. It was much different than I expected. There was little talk about giving thanks or feeling gratitude. People from 8 different faith traditions gathered to chant, sing, read from sacred scriptures and poetry. And some of them offered reflections on a chosen theme: Repentance. 

The participants were members of these local religious organizations:


Baha'is of Houston


Chung Mei Buddhist Temple


St. Philip Presbyterian Church


Hindu Temple of the Woodlands


Preksha Meditation Center


Congregation Beth Israel


Pink Iftar


The Zorathustri Heritage and Cultural Center

You couldn't ask for a more diverse group of speakers. Accordingly, they each had a perspective on the topic unique to their own faith. Moreover, their was a common thread in each of their expressions of the concept of repentance. What I understood each of them to express is that repentance is about change and turning toward that which is uplifting. It was a message of hope. It was an act of trust. And, perhaps most importantly, it was a doorway to a better understanding of what it means to live life as a human being. For the best way to a deeper understanding of our fellow earthlings - and thereby ourselves - is to listen.

Peace, Shalom, Shanti,
  S.