Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

November 10 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  The authors talk about the mountain of spiritual paths and spiritual purpose.  Can you identify with this image?  Where are you on that mountain?  Where would you wish to be?

Question 2.  In the oasis story, people tended to believe theirs was the only one connecting to the deepest source, just as in the early stages of the interfaith dialogue, some imagine that their faith alone is true.  How would you encourage people to appreciate that there are many traditions connected to a single Source of life?

Question 3. The authors present inclusive spirituality as a spirituality shared by many different faiths and traditions.  If this is so, what do you think is the value of having different religious traditions?

Question 4.  One of the controversial moments the authors describe involves the sharing of communion.  What were your impressions of this moment?  What are your feelings about this kind of interfaith sharing?

Question 5.  The end is always also the beginning.  As you think about what you have felt and learned during your reading of this book, how have you changed?  What new thoughts and ideas are emerging for you?  Where will you go from here? 

As you contemplate that question, what possibilities come to mind?  Can you imagine ways in which you can expand interfaith dialogue and understanding in your world?  What are your hopes for what this could bring about?

Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

October 27 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  As you read about the spiritual practices in this chapter, which appeal to you the most?  How can you imagine using them to deepen your interfaith understanding?

Question 2.  What spiritual practices do you have that the authors have not discussed?  How have they affected your life?

Question 3. Can you think of any things that you normally do in your life that are actually spiritual practices for you?  How do you experience them as spiritual practices?

Question 4.  The authors present spiritual practices from each of their traditions and believe such practices create the inclusiveness that supports positive change in the world.  How do your spiritual practices translate into compassionate action in the world?

Question 5.  You have seen how each of the Abrahamic traditions provides specific practices for helping us deepen our spiritual journey.  Can you imagine practices that are not tied to a particular religion, but could be shared by all?  What would it be like to see all of life as part of our spiritual practice?

Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

October 20 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  The pastor, the rabbi, and the sheikh traveled together to the land holy to each of them, but each perceived it very differently.  The situation stimulated deeper conversation about some of the differences between them.  Have you ever been on such a journey?  When differences were discussed?  Did they help people get closer, or did they provoke anger and greater distance?

Question 2.  Pastor Don recognized the pain that has come to others from his Christian tradition.  Perhaps all traditions can identify with this in their past.  What are the difficulties that you perceive emerging from your religious tradition in the past or in the present?  What pain has it caused others?  Do you think such past pain can be healed?

Question 3.  Rabbi Ted was struck by the paradoxical impact of religious institutions.  He noted that although they develop to support a more universal spiritual experience, they tend to become focused on matters of their own survival.  Does this reflect your experience with institutions of your faith?  Are you aware of the purpose for which those institutions began?

Question 4.  Sheikh Jamal was the only Muslim on this trip to the Holy Land, and he was immediately singled out for special questioning upon landing.  To his surprise, the people from whom he had anticipated difficulty turned out to be supportive of his interfaith mission.  How would you have felt watching him being pulled aside by security officers?  Have you ever experienced unexpected hospitality?

Question 5.  Sheikh Jamal was pained by the violence on both sides of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and by the wall of separation that has been erected between the two peoples.  He wondered about the walls that we create in our own lives, and the acts of violence we commit in our own “holy land.”  Are you aware of walls you build in your own world?  How do you understand the walls of separation that people build to protect themselves from others?

Question 6.  Each experienced Israel and Palestine differently.  Which experiences did you most identify with?  With which did you have greatest difficulty?  Would you be interested in sharing such an interfaith journey – whether literally or metaphorically?  With whom?  What do you think it would take for you to prepare to move beyond “safe” territory to embark on such a journey?

Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

October 13 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  The authors talk about what they really like about their respective traditions.  If you are a member of a faith tradition, can you share what especially appeals to you about your tradition?  If you do not identify with a formal religion, what do you especially like about the way you have chosen?

Question 2.  When you find things about your own path that you really like, do you feel that those things make your path better than any other?  How do you handle questions from others about this?

Question 3.  When you find awkward aspects of your path, do you find yourself avoiding them?  Explaining them away?  Can you share one aspect of your path that you find awkward?  How might you interpret this in a more universal way?

Question 4.  In what ways do you feel that your own path is misunderstood?  What would you like others to know about your beliefs?  Is there anything others do or say that particularly pains your?

Question 5.  Are there issues you have with aspects of another faith?  Would you be willing to share these concerns?  If another has such concerns about your faith, what could you do to respond without defensiveness?

Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

September 29 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  Pastor Don believes in the transformative nature of love.  In what ways have you experienced this?  How do you see this power of love as a universal value?

Question 2.  If Pastor Don sees love as the central focus of his Christian faith, does that mean Christianity “owns” love?  What if several traditions share a common focus?

Question 3.  Rabbi Ted talks about finding deeper meaning in words he had learned as a child.  Are there texts, songs, or stories in which you are now able to find deeper meaning than they had for you when you first learned them?  If so, how did that additional meaning become clear to your?

Question 4.  Rabbi Ted shared an event that helped open him to a fuller vision of his spiritual identity and through that, to deeper interfaith connections.  Are there events in your own life that have enabled you to understand what you share with those of other faiths and traditions?

Question 5.  Sheikh Jamal found himself experiencing the intensity of God’s compassion even when going through an extremely difficult time of loss.  When have you most been aware of universal compassion and love?  When have you felt most distant from that love?

Question 6.  Sheikh Jamal focuses on the virtue of compassion.  Do you think that every spiritual path needs to reflect this virtue?  Why?

Question 7.  If you were to focus on one central teaching that has impacted you in your life, what would it be?  How did you find that teaching?  What has it meant for you?

Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

September 22 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  In Pastor Don’s journey to interfaith, he describes his experience of being born into privilege.  How do you relate to the issue of privilege in your own life?  Do you feel as if you are an “insider,” or do you experience yourself on the “outside,” looking in?

Question 2.  Have there been special moments in your own life when you became aware of the suffering of others?  What have been the consequences of those moments?

Question 3.  Rabbi Ted shared his experience when he realized that he was a minority and related some of the painful experiences associated with that realization.  Have you ever felt like a minority, an outsider, different?  How has that experience influenced you?

Question 4.  What is your relationship to some of the minorities in your community?  How do you feel when you think about approaching them?  What might your goals be in establishing such conversations?

Question 5.  Sheikh Jamal shared his very special relationship with his parents.  They were major teachers for him on his spiritual path.  How have your parents influenced your own spiritual path?  Are you following in their footsteps, or have you set out on your own?  How has this affected your relationship with your parents?

Question 6.  Sheikh Jamal said that, until 9/11, he never experienced discrimination as a Muslim, but he did experience discrimination as a person of color.  How have you been aware of discrimination in your own life?  Have you been able to allow your experience to sensitize you to the experience of others?

Question 7.  The three authors mentioned the synchronicities that brought them together.  How has synchronicity played a part in the significant relationships in your life?  Are you aware of the special but surprising moments of meeting you have experienced?

Question 8.  How have you become interested in issues of interfaith relations?  Is this an important subject for you?  What circumstances in your life have awakened your interest in other religions?

Getting to the Heart of Interfaith

September 15 Discussion Questions

Question 1.  What does the word interfaith mean to you?

Question 2.  The stages of interfaith dialogue often begin with distrust and suspicion.  Are there any religious groups with whom you experience this kind of distrust?  What do you think might bridge the distance you feel?

Question 3.  Sometimes we tolerate each other, but do not know very much about the beliefs and rituals of someone of another religion.  Have you ever been to a religious service of another faith?  If so, what did that feel like?  Have you ever welcomed another to an observance of your faith?  What was that experience like?

Question 4.  What other faiths would you like to learn more about?

Question 5.  What differences or concerns get in the way for you when you think about interfaith relations?  How might both your interests and concerns serve as a catalyst for your next step in exploring interfaith dialogue?

Question 6.  If you found something in another faith that resonated for you, would you be comfortable incorporating an aspect of that practice into your life and making it your own?  What might that look like?

Question 7.  Do you think that interfaith exploration can lead to a watering down of an individual’s faith identity?  If so, how?  Do you think such an exploration can deepen your faith identity?

Question 8.  What opportunities are there in your community for meeting people of other faiths?  Who might you take advantage of these and explore them further?