This year Holy Week for Christians (Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox) coincides with Passover for Jews and comes shortly after the conclusion of Ramadan for Muslims. The convergence of sacred times for Christians, Jews, and Muslims is a three-fold blessing.…
The following is a letter from IFC Fellow Jeremy Cannon, who recently moved to an Episcopal Benedictine monastery in the Hudson Valley of New York. It is a response to the following message from his friend Jimmy, a parishioner at…
In every faith tradition and spiritual practice, there exists a guiding principle on how to respect one’s community. Precepts such as the Golden Rule exhort religious followers towards an acknowledged interconnectedness and a pursuit of harmony. Yet, while such…
My father, Dr. Bahman Abadian, was a remarkable figure whose life journey shaped…
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the interfaith movement is headed towards a radical paradigm shift. As young people around the world exhibit a rapid decline in religious affiliation, important questions arise not only regarding the sustainability of the movement,…
Over the summer, along with nine other amazing people across the country, I was named a 2023 BJC Fellow. It is a tremendous honor to be a part of such a select group of scholars, practitioners, and community leaders of…
We live in difficult times. Whether we are watching the news, reading our social media feed, or simply having coffee with a friend, suffering is always lurking: disasters near and far, difficulties at home and abroad, pains minor and chronic.…
By Richa Agarwala A picture is said to be worth a thousand words. This adage comes alive with symbols that invoke high levels of emotions in people as compared to written text. Religious symbols, family pictures and national flags can…
Growth occurs most often when there is pain. I don’t think I would be mistaken by suggesting that every language and culture has a saying or phrase that reflects this reality. In English, it is said “No pain no gain”.…
(Photos of Church of St. John the Baptist, Jerusalem, taken by the author) One cherished interfaith experience occurred when I spent a semester studying at Brigham Young University’s Jerusalem Center For Near Eastern Studies. One day a group of five…