How Can Spiritually Motivated Citizens Worldwide Get Involved?
Abraham Path Walks & Awareness Campaigns
Omni-Local Grassroots Inter-religious and Intercultural Networks
By retracing Abraham's footsteps, laid upon the earth some 4,000 years ago, we re-imagine a pilgrimage that inspires us to experience the spirit of Abraham; his values of faith, hospitality, and respect remind us that no matter what divides us, that which unites us is greater still. The Path serves as a catalyst for coexistence and mutual understanding, fostering people-to-people exchanges, interactions across cultures, and meaningful service projects.
In response to the query, "Mr. Campbell, the world is falling apart, what can be done?" Joseph Campbell replied, "Go out and meet a stranger. Learn their stories, their culture, their language. Understand their humanity. Make a friend. That will save the world.”
Might this be the very same answer we are seeking in our own communities all across the planet? The "challenge" in the Middle East is not exclusively confined to the Middle East nor is it impersonally "global." Abraham's three billion descendents are scattered in every community throughout the world. Omni-local IS global.
One of the most immediate undertakings of the Abraham Path Initiative is a comprehensive education and awareness campaign centered on the understanding of, and respect for the different faiths. The Association for Global New Thought, partnering with the Global Negotiation Project at Harvard University, is stewarding the development of ‘Abraham Walks’ in communities throughout the world whereby “omni-local” grassroots teams comprised of people from all faiths and cultures will walk from churches to mosques to synagogues, and jointly create events and activities that exemplify new models for appreciation, celebration, and reconciliation. The local walks are undertaken in a context of deep study and dialogue focused on the complex religious, political, economic and humanitarian issues that underpin the seemingly intractable strife embedded in the region, itself, as well as the social tensions shared by 3 billion adherents of Abrahamic faith worldwide.
These days there are many groups dedicated to bringing peace in the Holy Land. The omni-local dimension of the Abraham Path Initiative seeks to broaden the conceptual field of this endeavor by affirming not only respect toward other ways of practice and devotion, but also demonstrating the awakening toward oneness bursting through individuals in all faith traditions. Many are familiar with the concept of interfaith relationships; far fewer have been prepared for living in spiritual unity – respecting the unique identity of the different faiths while experiencing a deep sense of the common, ineffable ground beyond all. Our dear friend, the late Brother Wayne Teasdale, was fond of naming this notion, “interspiritual.”
Nowhere is this situation more apparent than in the Middle East. The guidelines signaling interspiritual experience are emerging in “real-time” as global citizens awaken to this sense of “mysticism reflected outward” in their own individual being.
With the aid of the internet and increasing determination by spiritually-motivated activists to engage in creative solutions to the challenges we face, models for accomplishing grassroots, self-governed awareness-to-action campaigns are being explored, documented, and shared. Constantly evolving resources are available for study and consideration, frequently leading to the convening of community dialogues. There is seemingly no end to the variety of organizations and their networks that can be called into service on a moment’s notice.
In 2006, Abraham Path groups came together in more than forty cities within the United States and abroad in order to explore the potential of physical or symbolic Walks and other expressions of interfaith alliance in their home communities. Some that have already conducted city-wide Walks include: Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio, Texas; San Jose, Santa Barbara, and Ojai, California; Sarasota, Florida; Amesbury, Massachusetts; Beaverton, Oregon, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2007, the number of cities worldwide has more than doubled as communities study together the religious and political history of the region and culture in order to open doors of dialogue at home, and explore opportunities for helping the initiative in the Middle East, itself.
The Walks have been incredibly successful, unifying neighbors from the three faiths in a ceremony of appreciation as they reverently traverse a representative path in memory of Abraham’s journey and of those who have lost their lives in religious conflict. Without minimizing the sense of celebration for the diversity inherent in the three faiths, the commemoration of lives lost in so many families encourages healing through a common vision that their grief shall not have been in vain, and that nonviolent resolution of conflict must shape a more enlightened future.
For example, Austin is planning a second Walk for 2007; last year’s experience touched one pilgrim so much that she spent this past summer in the region. For Emilee Whitehurst, who traveled throughout the Middle East and met with Iraqi refugees, Syrian Christians and others, it's crucial now to think globally while trying to nurture compassion.
"On the trip I really experienced the benefit of citizen-to-citizen diplomacy," she said.
Humility was key, she said, as she listened to accounts of torture in Iraqi prisons and the ongoing Middle East battle, the beginning of which is sometimes hard to pinpoint.
"The truth is, you don't have to travel to Syria or Lebanon to have that kind of citizen-to-citizen diplomacy," she added. "You can do diplomatic bridge building right here in Austin."
In Dallas, a separate but similar experience of deep inspiration resulted in more than thirty members of that community traveling to Turkey the month following their Walk to engage in a Pilgrimage with Purpose. In addition to activities of spiritually focused tourism, the pilgrims brought cases of supplies to an orphanage outside of Istanbul and spent time giving service to the children.
In Cincinnati, Rev. Doris Hoskins preached to her congregation about taking a stand for peace. She told them, “first you take one step for peace and then another and then another.” She then began to organize the walk. Her Unity congregation worked as a team with the Hillel Jewish student center, the Ohio Council on American Islamic Relations, and the Center for Peace Education to organize and publicize the walk.
Rev. Hoskins was not surprised at how seamlessly the different faith organizations worked well together. For her, one of the high points of the walk was when Dr. Majid Qureshi, the leader of the Islamic Association gave a speech to the crowd. He told them that when he first came to Cincinnati, Christian churches opened their doors to him. One church invited him to bring a group of fellow Muslims in to pray. He said his path had always included the Christian community and would now learn to extend a hand in friendship to the Jewish community as well. After his speech, the room burst into spontaneous applause.
Because the Cincinnati Walk was such a successful healing force, Hoskins hopes it will become an annual event. She has thought about expanding the walk to bridge barriers between race and economic status as well as religion. In the future though, she doesn’t think her church will have to play such a pivotal role in organizing the walk.
“I think we’ve created something that will develop a life of its own,” she said, and gives helpful practical tips learned from the Cincinnati Path for Peace walk:
• It’s easier to organize a walk in a downtown area where churches, mosques and synagogues are more likely to be in close proximity to each other. However, if there are not buildings representing the three faiths within walking distance in your community, you can represent the three religions symbolically.
• Make sure that representatives from the three religions are involved in every step of the process, especially in writing brochures and press releases, so that all faiths are represented equally and accurately.
• Encourage organizers to get food donated by local grocery stores and restaurants, and other services such as printing costs, transportation, t-shirts, web services, and meeting space to cut down on costs.
• Make sure there are vans traveling with the walkers in case people can’t complete the entire walk. Buses can take participants back after the walk is over.
• Work with the local media to publicize the walk. Send out press releases and you are likely to receive coverage from TV news stations as well as a newspaper reporters who are invited to participate in the entire walk.
In San Jose, meetings have been convened by Rev. Ellen Grace O’Brian with local clergy from the local council of churches, an Imam, a Rabbi and a Muslim woman leader. They are putting together an umbrella interfaith organization that will address local / global interfaith issues and also serve to connect leaders of the several existing interfaith organizations in the area. Interest is high in the Abraham Path project and is fuelled by a desire to put the organizational ground work in place so that our participation in the path initiative can be developed as an educational and peace building opportunity that might include, but is not limited to any single discrete event.