When encountering thresholds, we often talk as if our work is that of successfully “passing through” them. We speak of “making healthy transitions.” We seek out advice and support as we decide which thresholds to lean into and which to…
Reflections from the Clergy
Reflections From The Clergy | Interfaith endeavors build bridges and make communities thrive
by contributor • • Comments Off on Reflections From The Clergy | Interfaith endeavors build bridges and make communities thrive
When Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (a great Islamic figure) was on his death bed, a Christian pastor of his community visited Imam Ahmad and said, “O Imam, your life was not only a blessing for Muslims, it was a blessing…
Reflections From The Clergy | Where is wisdom to be found?
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on Reflections From The Clergy | Where is wisdom to be found?
When the topic of wisdom comes up, so do the usual images. Walls and walls filled with dusty old books. Elders with the wisdom of many years carved into the wrinkles on their faces. Diplomas framed and filling one’s office…
Reflections From The Clergy | What Does It Mean to Be A People of Resilience?
by Rev. Dave Clements • • Comments Off on Reflections From The Clergy | What Does It Mean to Be A People of Resilience?
On Oct. 29, 1999, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu officially presented President Mandela the five volumes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report. Tutu, head of the TRC, had heard long hours of personal testimony from the victims of atrocities…
Reflections From A Baha’i | Uphold human rights by embracing freedoms of belief
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When I was a teenager, my family hosted a refugee family from Iran. They had fled persecution, forced to abandoned their homeland because they were members of the Baha’i Faith, the largest minority religion in Iran. Since the faith’s inception…
Reflections From A Baha’i | A Brief History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
by Community Word Staff • • Comments Off on Reflections From A Baha’i | A Brief History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948, was motivated by the horrors of the Second World War. With the end of that war, and the creation of the United…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Art of debate
by Dr. Mandar Pattekar • • Comments Off on Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Art of debate
As our next presidential election looms closer, the sheer barbarism of the public arena vocalization filled me with great anguish. On the current political debate stages, behavior like blatant lying, interrupting the opponents, childish insults have become a norm for…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Lighting the light within
by Dr. Mandar Pattekar • • Comments Off on Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Lighting the light within
My family has had some ancestors who were highly spiritually evolved individuals. My paternal grandmother’s father was a householder yogi (yogi- one who seeks union of individual consciousness with the Universal consciousness) who held a day job as a government…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Raksha-Bandhan: A potential world festival
by Dr. Mandar Pattekar • • Comments Off on Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Raksha-Bandhan: A potential world festival
I am an optimist. I sincerely believe that if every human felt a bond with another, we may be able to overcome greed, lust for power, and insecurities and end all wars and resultant carnages. The more things we have…
Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Non-Anger (Akrodha)
by Dr. Mandar Pattekar • • Comments Off on Reflections From A Hindu Perspective | Non-Anger (Akrodha)
There is a fable of a boy who is prone to angry outbursts. His father tells him to hammer a nail in the wooden fence post every time he is angry and abuses someone, and then remove that nail after…