InSpiritry

The first event has been the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan, August 11, a lovely time when devout Muslims refrain from eating between sunrise and sunset, breaking their fast each evening with joyful and prayerful family meals. During this month, Muslims are also called to share food or money with those who are hungry. It is a time of memory-making and internal reflection. As Ramadan ends in mid-September, in another faith tradition, Jewish families will celebrate the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Essentially the Jewish New Year, the historic ceremonies of these sacred days represent a prayerful time that, like Ramadan, include aspects of prayer, spiritual centering, fasting, renewal and celebratory family meals.  

September is also the month of the United Nations International Day of Peace on September 21. Around the world, adults and children who believe War is Not the Answer and that Peace Begins Here with gather to promote a peaceful world. There will be festivals, concerts, prayer poles, retreats, prayer services and service projects. I will be in Belton, Texas, to read poetry as part of the second annual Art of Peace Festival, held at a lovely retreat center and includes poetry, stories, music, art and fellowship. Of course, in September, Americans of every religion are prayerful, as we remember the catastrophic events of 9-11-2001. We relive the moments of watching the Twin Towers fall, the feeling that peace that was shattered and the fears that were born and remain. This year, those lingering fears have flared as television news channels have focused on the controversy over whether to build a Muslim worship and fellowship center in Manhattan near the site of the 9-11 disaster. There is renewed talk of “us” and “them” and even frightening calls for a limit on the American core value of religious freedom. 

For me, September has personal spiritual reminders. In 2001, in the days after the World Trade Center tragedy, when I could not bear the anguish unleashed in those awful moments and the flood of hatred that followed, even as a writer, there was no prayer to speak my pain. Having Muslim friends and knowing the practice of fasting during Ramadan, Yom Kippur and Judeo-Christian traditions, I decided to make my peace prayer physical and personal. From that first week in September through the seven following months to the penitent Christian season of Lent and finally to the celebration of rebirth at Easter, I fasted each Monday as a “prayer by walking around,” letting sacred writings from many sources feed me during the day.  Of course, hatred and violence did follow 9-11, resulting in destruction and death that I could not have imagined.  In addition to fasting, I turned to my life-long habit of writing my heart’s longings into poetry. Those poems from the dark but hopeful months and years that followed became my peace chapbook, Under a Blameless Moon, which happily won the Pudding House Prize and were published as one collection. 

Coincidentally (or maybe not such a coincidence!), during that time, each Tuesday, I was meeting with our church pastors to design the coming week’s contemporary worship service. That meant that, after fasting on Monday and writing peace poems each morning, on Tuesdays I could express my sense of spiritual focus in discussions of sacred music, readings, visual displays, dramas and experiential activities. It was a precious time.   With all this on my mind, this week offered more spiritual growth. Yesterday for the 25^th year, I participated in our local annual school supply project, an event I support that brings our community together for our children. This year, youth from a new cowboy church near our town joined our loyal group of volunteers of every race from traditional churches. Many of the teenagers who helped out were seeing for the first time attention to poverty as a practical prayer, and a meal as a gathering of servants. Of course, for all of us, the smiles of nine hundred children leaving with new backpacks full of school supplies is the best blessing of all!  

The other thing that happened this week was more personal. After two InSpiritry speeches I gave to non-profit groups, both suggesting great things happen when we Believe, Belong and Become, audience members shared comments like, “You made our work sound like a mission” and “It was like going to church – only this is what we do every day” and even “You changed a life today.”  Oh, how grateful I am to help people celebrate the blessed miracles of their lives!

All this to say that peace may be closest when it seems the farthest away. God works in all kinds of circumstances. Our search for love begins where we are. Food can be a blessing…or a curse. Life is a mission.  

This month, whether you are ending summer gardening to plant for fall, ending vacations to start back to school, celebrating Ramadan, preparing for Rosh Hashanah, remembering 9-11, planning an International Day of Peace celebration or continuing to support your congregation and community, the coming days can be your own journey to a deeper sense of InSpiritry. For me, this month will once again be a time to: Fast, Pray, Love! 

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