Good evening!
I am not really sure why Steve Morgan asked me to speak with you tonight. I see myself as a perfectly ordinary person, with a perfectly ordinary story, but, nevertheless, Steve has asked me to share that story with you.
Before September 11th, I did not know any persons who were Muslim. In those first frightening hours and days, I kept repeating to myself, “All Muslims aren’t like that. They just can’t be. We are all people created by a loving God.” Reminding myself of our common Creator was my way of giving myself hope for the peace of our world.
Then, on the first Sunday after September 11th, Steve invited two gentlemen from a mosque in Greenville to talk with our congregation about Islam and peacemaking. These two brave peacemakers also came to my Sunday school class, a much smaller group of people, to converse with us more informally and to answer our questions. I was deeply moved, and deeply reassured by these gentlemen, and by the incredible risk they were willing to take in coming to an unknown Christian congregation at that uncertain moment in time in order to promote peace and mutual understanding.
Over the years following September 11th, Steve invited other Muslim speakers, often from the Intercultural Dialog Club at Clemson University, to make presentations to our congregation on a variety of topics, such as worship and prayer practices, and always/intentionally to help build bridges between Christians and Muslims by helping us to get to know each other as actual people who could become friends. My husband and I made it a point to attend as many of these presentations as we possibly could, and we gradually became more and more involved in the Intercultural Dialog Club, through which we have come to know and to develop friendships with many of you from various different faith traditions.
Eventually, like some of you, we were blessed to be invited to participate in an Intercultural Dialog Club sponsored trip to Turkey. During our time in Turkey, we were the receivers of continuous, amazing, and absolutely unconditional hospitality. Our Intercultural Dialog Club guides and sponsors went above and beyond any reasonable expectations to meet our every need, from paying for all of our expenses while we were in Turkey to making sure we never wanted for so much as a bottle of water! The most amazing experience of all was meeting the families who invited us into their homes, served us delicious multi-course meals, and then gave us lovely gifts to thank us for coming to build bridges and make peace with them.
My experiences in Turkey were truly transformative for me. When we came home from Turkey, I was no longer content to sit quietly and be reassured by risk-taking peacemakers. I was determined to become a risk-taking peacemaker. So, I asked Steve if I could address our congregation, sharing my experiences in Turkey, and telling how I got to know that group of deeply committed Muslim peacemakers. Now, for those of you who know me, I would much rather sing a solo than share my thoughts with others in public. Speaking a few sentences in front of my own congregation may not sound like a very brave or risk-taking act of peacemaking, but it actually did seem to be a somewhat risky first step to me.
Sometime after that, my friend Tugba (from the Intercultural Dialog Club) and I began to brainstorm about ways that we could stand together and share a peacemaking ministry here at Saint Mark. With Steve’s encouragement, Tugba and I decided that we would co-hostess an authentic Turkish dinner—by which I mean that Tugba and other members of the Intercultural Dialog Club very graciously agreed to prepare a delicious dinner for us. All I did was to publicize the upcoming event to our congregation and make sure the needed tables and chairs were in place. The event was so well attended and so appreciated that we held a second Turkish dinner event, and a slightly different dinner experience is being planned for November.
And, of course, now, as we approach the tenth anniversary of September 11th, we gather together across three different faith communities to intentionally be bridge builders and peacemakers by sharing a meal together and taking time to get to know each other as real persons and real friends. I believe that this time together is a deeply important time. I believe that God is calling to all of us, and asking us to remember that we are all created by Him, and that we are all loved by Him. I believe that He is asking us to turn toward each other as peacemakers who simply will not allow fear, ignorance, or hatred to destroy His beautiful world. And, I pray that God will bless and multiply our efforts to build bridges tonight, and our ongoing efforts to build bridges as we each journey onward from this experience, and use each of us to help to bring peace to the world.
Amen.