New Year's Eve: Inter-faith prayer service for peace

New Year's Eve in Santa Cruz is a special event.  I did not know about the Holy Cross inter-faith prayer for peace service until the day before, or I would have widely shared and invited people to it!   Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, a Benedictine monk from the Assumption Monastery on Big Sur, has been celebrating this event for 8 years.  He has been doing cross-cultural and inter-faith worship services for 20 years, and is a very gifted musician;  both his guitar-playing and singing are shimmeringly wonderful.  He has studied the work of  Fr. Bede Griffiths, who worked in India for 50 years in cross-cultural faith-sharing; and is able to sing and chant from the Vedas, in Hindi.   I always feel so grateful and blessed and uplifted to hear him play and sing!  So this event was held at the Holy Cross church hall, in downtown Santa Cruz, from 8 pm to midnight, followed by Midnight mass to welcome the new year.  There were so many religious traditions represented:  a Sufi singing pastor, Zen Buddhists chanting in Japanese, Hindi followers of Krishna, an Islamic teacher and a gorgeous chant from Indonesian Muslims, a Bahai elder, a Jewish rabbi, and the Shaker hymn, "how can I keep from Singing?"   A Native American named Mountain Eagle called us all family, and urged us to let the natural leaders come forth, as the old millenia of the Mayan calendar is ended and we start a new era.
Fr. Cyprian's format was to have a pastor or group do a chant or prayer, then we would be called into meditation for about 10-15 minutes with the gong-bowl, and everyone in the room was so respectful and willing to participate, and to meditate silently together!   It was the most meaningful and true prayer service for inter-faith witness I have ever had the privilege of attending.  No one was trying to convert anyone else, just sharing the best of their own tradition and faith, and the fervent desire for peace for all people.
It was warm and inviting, and sensitive, and moving.  The hall was well-lit with small white Christmas lights, and candles.  The chairs were comfortable.  The depth of attentive listening and prayerful joining into the chants was lovely.  Many of the people there have been attending a meditation group there for several years.
I loved one of the chants we sang, which had the words "It glows, it shines, it blazes up;  So lovingkindness, when it comes, will bring its freedom to the heart".
I thought of so many of the wonderful physicians I know from different faith traditions, who would probably have loved to attend and be part of this.  One of my favorite young doctors has just returned from doing the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca with his aging parents.  A new parent himself, he is a tender and dear man, and gave his parents this wonderful gift of accompanying them on the pilgrimage of a lifetime.  My own parish, Resurrection in Aptos, has been participating in an interfaith Passover/ Easter Vigil service with our Jewish temple folks for several years.  I cry every year, when we finish the Haggadah, and say "next year in Jerusalem!" to each other--- it is truly a glimpse of heaven, to be able to see ourselves in faith as God's children, overcoming our quarrelsome nature and getting along at the feast we share!   It is so meaningful to me, after the 5 years I spent at Maimonides hospital in Brooklyn, to have a prayer time with my Jewish bretheren.  It always reinforces my understanding of Christianity's roots in Judaism, and how much love I feel for the Jewish rabbinical tradition.  This prayer service carried that feeling even deeper and farther--- as we were embracing so many traditions, with respect and generous listening;  and the ongoing prayer for peace-- the kind that passes all understanding.  I thought about Thomas Merton, and how he would have loved this!
One of the printed things which was passed out was the Assisi Decalogue for Peace-- which I am glad to get a new copy of-- mine is ragged-- from 2002, when Pope John Paul, and many religious leaders met in the home town of St. Francis of Assisi, to pray together for world peace.  Each of the points in the Decalogue are important to the respectful relationship between people of different religions.  At the meeting in Assisi, each of the points was read by a pastor from a different faith tradition, trying to meet together without attempting to convert or coerce anyone, and trying to pray for peace and deeper mutual understanding.
Although I had to leave early to go to the labor room, because I was on-call,  I was so happy to experience most of the joyful event.  I hope more people will come next year-- it is a powerful thing to experience!  And, may God's peace be to all people of good will!