A week or so ago, I received an email from Don, a member of my parish. It was Joan Chittister’s most recent column, entitled A simple, doable, soul-changing project. I always appreciate reading Joan’s thoughts when I find the time, and as it turns out, this particular column addresses an issue I’ve been meaning to look into in more depth. (I first heard about it at an interfaith gathering here in Columbus a little over a month ago.) In her article, Joan gives some background on the interfaith group known as the Tent of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah and the opportunity they see before us for increasing mutual respect and understanding between the three Abrahamic faith traditions.
In other periods of history, this group would have made unlikely bedfellows.
The first is a small Jewish community that has always been against the oppression of Palestinians.
The second is a small group of Muslims who are opposed to the fundamentalist definition of “jihad” as military struggle rather than as the interior struggle to be holy.
The third is a small group of Christians who have no doubts about the sins of Christianity against both these communities and, even more, a memory of Francis of Assisi, who in the midst of a Crusade against Egypt, crossed the battle lines to talk to Sultan Malik al-Kamil.
Francis, to convert the Egyptians, tried to strike a bargain: He would go into a fiery furnace and, if he came out alive, the Egyptians would convert to Christianity. Al-Kamil’s answer to Francis was a gentle and a wise one. Gambling with one’s life, he argued, is not a valid proof of one’s God. Then, both of them wiser, he spared Francis’ life and sent him on his way again.
Like Francis, these people have decided to do what their governments won’t do. They are stepping across battle lines.
They are reaching out as friends to one another in formal, public ways. They are listening to the spirit in the heart of the other.
They call their project The October Surprise. The surprise is that the Jewish High Holy Days, the Islamic Month of Ramadan and the Christian feast of St. Francis of Assisi who opposed the Crusades and learned from an Islamic teacher, all come in October.
Even the heavens, it seems, are calling all of us to do penance, to be peaceful, to become the human community we are meant to be.
But how?
The group, after praying together themselves, encourages a public day of fast and prayer on Oct. 13 for all of us — Christian, Muslim and Jew alike. They are asking congregations, organizations and families, to host members of the other communities in order to celebrate these common feasts together. They are suggesting that we all hold teach-ins to honor one another and to come to know our common teachings on peace, on kinship with the earth and all its creatures, on openness to the wisdom of others.
Here is a link to the Tent of Abraham, Hagar and Sarah web site. The introduction reads:
The Tent of Abraham, Hagar, & Sarah is a gathering of Jews, Christians, and Muslims who have been building a ‘Tent’ of shared spiritual concern for peace, justice, and healing of the earth. Arising from this effort has been a call to take part in ‘God’s October Surprise’.
Click to read more about October Surprise: A Call to Share Sacred Seasons. Here is the groups Call to Action/Gathering Statement.This link leads to a printable (PDF) flyer explaining the “October Surprise” and the opportunity we have before us. On this page, you can search for an event in your area, or add your own to the database.