The tenth anniversary of the tragedy of 911 is occurring on our traditional ingathering Sunday this September. Already in the U. S. news in mid-August, we began seeing a poisonous increase in anti-Muslim fear and hate being stirred up by this occasion. At Allen Avenue we have a different vision:
We believe that all the world is one world,
and all the peoples of the world are one family.
It is an important time to stand up for the values we hold dear, and so I invited Reza Jalali, who is the Coordinator of Multicultural Student Affairs at USM, and an educator on Islam, to join me in planning an interfaith gathering for Sunday, September 11.
We were soon joined by other wonderful interfaith leaders: Rabbi Carolyn Braun of Temple Beth El, Interfaith Youth leader, Pious Ali, and Rachel Talbot Ross of the NAACP. Our participants will include Anita Talbot, of the NAACP, Eda Trejo of Tengo Voz, Rabbi David Freidenreich of Colby College, Qutaiba Hassoon of Maine Seeds of Peace, Rev. Kitsy Winthrop, guest music by Spoonmaker's Diamond, as well as member of our A2U2 choir, and Dale Churchill, our music director.
Our ingathering this year will be a gathering in of our neighbors as well as our church community. Invite your neighbors and friends too!
We will begin with our traditional water ritual—using a structure based on the story of Stone Soup—so remember to bring water you may have collected, or stones, from places and events that have nourished your soul this summer.
