Contributed by Susan Posey: Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, McLean
A friend of mine recently brought to my attention an initiative taken by the Muslim and Jewish Communities in Manchester, England this summer.
Concerned about the rise in hate incidents against both Muslims and Jews in the UK and in the world, and acknowledging that, “(t)he conflict in Israel and Gaza continues to be a source of distress and despair,” leaders from the Greater Manchester Jewish and Muslim communities met for months at meetings chaired by the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester.
These meetings, “…. allowed for honest and forthright opinions to be shared which in turn led to the building of mutual trust and a commitment to ensure foreign conflicts do not become an instrument of division within our diverse communities of Greater Manchester.”
The end result was the signing of a Declaration on July 28, 2025, that commits all parties to continuing honest and respectful dialogue. The Declaration reads in part:
“These conversations will not and cannot be expected to resolve, for example, the issue of borders, the status of Jerusalem etc. but will be about accepting that both communities have a right to hold strong views and opinions which need to be respected alongside the willingness to sit down and listen to each other’s views. If we can collectively agree on just this principle then, if nothing else, we are confident that we can begin to help reduce anti- Muslim and antisemitic hate incidents/ and crimes in our city region.”
I was encouraged by the steps taken by faith leaders in Greater Manchester and hope their actions can be emulated both here in the US and abroad.
The text of this Declaration in its entirety can be found: HERE.
As an interfaith community, Tyson’s Interfaith celebrates diversity of thought, cultures, and religious practices. We uphold the principle of the “Oneness of Humanity” which recognizes the value and inherent worth of every human life and our interconnectedness. An injury inflicted on a person anywhere in the world is an injury to us all. We pray for healing in this, our beloved world. We commit ourselves to promoting love, understanding and mutual respect among neighbors – for we are all neighbors.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
When you travel this great country by car – and yes, IMHO, it’s already great – and stay in motels, getting up in the middle of the night to view the deer and the tall cornfields and meet others who are nocturnally inclined, you realize just how wonderful, inquisitive, diverse, and caring are your fellow Americans and other fellow creatures. And when you are retired in a sort of semi-permanent “staycation,” it’s invigorating to get out of town like we did last week, when I ferried my wife and Brooklyn-resident daughter to my sister-in-law’s place just outside of Asheville, NC in Weaverville. They went on to the John Campbell Folk School JCCFS | John C. Campbell Folk School while I, having nothing better to do, spent a week at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College for “Old Time Week,” their most popular event. Old-Time Week – Swannanoa Gathering They studied respectively, tapestry making, yarn dying, and making animals out of found objects. I sang, learning shape-note singing, unaccompanied Appalachian ballads, and singing in tight Southern harmony.
My shape-note teacher, a fellow “Whiskeypalian,” as he liked to dub our Christian denomination, was a walking, talking encyclopedia from Kentucky. And I have never seen so many fiddlers gathered in one place, along with guitarists, banjo players, dulcimer hammerers, mandolinists, bassists, cloggers, square dancers, concertina artists, and folks who played instruments I’d never seen before. The guest artists who guided us in the pavilion after lunch included a young Cherokee flautist from Cherokee, North Carolina. A banker by day, he spent his leisure hours keeping alive a musical tradition born on this sacred ground long before the settlers came. (When he played, he said it was okay to fall asleep, since he sometimes did while he was performing!) Their dance traditions, which mimicked the native animals they cherished, influenced the dance moves of the incoming settlers. Even as almost all of the Cherokee were “removed” to Oklahoma, the remaining natives somehow kept their traditions alive.
And there was the best fiddler I have ever heard, who hailed from Galax in Southwest Virginia, where country music was born, and where my son spent one high school Summer in the eye-popping Virginia Conservation Corps. Without getting too political, it is interesting to note that Galax is the only “blue” area in a sea of “red.” (There must be an interesting story there.)
Warren Wilson never set foot in North Carolina, but he was the most productive and progressive Presbyterian you could ever imagine. The college named after him started as a farm school for boys over a hundred years ago, and the 800 or so students who attend there still work the same farm as they study the arts, sciences, and humanities.
Needless to say, I came back to McLean “revived.” The highlight was on Saturday, when a local shape-note club that piggy-backs on the annual gathering brought their covered dishes to the pavilion and serenaded the bear that roam freely on campus. Our leader told us that one year a large bear emerged from the trees to sniff the dishes laid out on a table in the pavilion only to turn and walk up the steps to the dorms. He apparently respected the singing.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
Every Sunday the BBC carries a church service from somewhere in the United Kingdom. This morning (June 29) was a choral matins service from the heart of the Anglican Communion, of which my church, an American Episcopal Church, is a member. The service and the music of Orlando Gibbons and of William Byrd, himself an unreformed Roman Catholic, is perfect. Listen here www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/ or follow the text below, which speaks for us here today and, indeed, for all time.
CHAPLAIN: Good morning and welcome to Sunday Worship from the Chapel of The Queen’s College Oxford. I’m the Chaplain, The Reverend Alice Watson.
CHOIR: O Lord make thy servant (Byrd)
CHAPLAIN: In 1627, a Queen’s College fellow recorded in his diary that he attended a performance of Gibbons’ music for stringed instruments, perhaps in a similar recital to the ones which we enjoy weekly to this day.
Gibbons hailed from an Oxford family and was baptised on Christmas Day 1583 in St Martin’s Church, the surviving part of which is now known as Carfax Tower.
He studied in Cambridge and became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1605, serving as one of the two organists of the Chapel Royal and as a composer and keyboard player in the household of Charles, Prince of Wales. He also became organist of Westminster Abbey.
Our first hymn is Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round, set to a tune by Gibbons.
CHOIR/ORGAN/CONGREGATION: Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round (Song 1)
CHAPLAIN: As I lead us in prayer, we give thanks for those who enhance our worship with their many gifts, especially the gift of music. Let us pray:
Lord, you have taught us, that all our doings without love are nothing worth: send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you. Grant this for your son Jesus Christ’s sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
CHAPLAIN: We return to the year 1625: Charles became king in March, at the death of James I. On 31 May the King left London to greet his wife, Henrietta Maria, who was travelling from France. A large number of the royal musicians, including Gibbons and the other members of the Chapel Royal travelled with him, and stayed in Canterbury, where the king’s entrance into the city was marked with celebratory music.
While the king was at Dover awaiting his queen on Whitsunday, the 5th of June, Gibbons died suddenly after attending a service in Canterbury Cathedral; and he was buried, with some haste, the next day, in the cathedral. The people of Canterbury were somewhat afraid that he had died of the plague, for the year saw the worst plague in living memory, and these anxieties accompanied the new King and Queen as they returned to London.
Our service of matins continues with the preces, followed by the first four verses of Psalm 145, both set to music by Gibbons.
CANTOR/CHOIR: Preces (Gibbons)
Cantor: O Lord, open thou our lips;
Choir: And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Cantor: O God, make speed to save us;
Choir: O Lord make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
CHOIR/ORGAN: Psalm 145:1-4 (Gibbons)
I will magnify thee, O God, my King : and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever.
Every day will I give thanks unto thee : and praise thy Name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and marvellous worthy to be praised : there is no end of his greatness.
One generation shall praise thy works unto another : and declare thy power.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
CHAPLAIN: The first lesson is taken from the book of Deuteronomy, the fifteenth chapter, beginning at the first verse. This part of the law code focuses on the remission of debt, and the assurance of God’s blessing if the commandment is observed.
READER 1: Deuteronomy 15:1-11
Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts. And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbour, not exacting it from a neighbour who is a member of the community, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed. From a foreigner you may exact it, but you must remit your claim on whatever any member of your community owes you. There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession to occupy, if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today. When the Lord your God has blessed you, as he promised you, you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbour. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near’, and therefore view your needy neighbour with hostility and give nothing; your neighbour might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land.’
CHOIR/ORGAN: Jubilate, Second Service (Gibbons)
CHAPLAIN: The second lesson is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, the twenty-seventh chapter, beginning at the thirteenth verse. This reading describes the great storm off the coast of Crete, which shipwrecked Paul and his travelling companions.
READER 2: Acts 13:13-26
When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore. But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete. Since the ship was caught and could not be turned with its head to the wind, we gave way to it and were driven. By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea-anchor and so were driven. We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, ‘Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss. I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.” So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we will have to run aground on some island.’
CHAPLAIN: The anthem ‘O clap your hands’ is a setting of words from Psalm 47 by Orlando Gibbons.
CHOIR: O clap your hands (Gibbons)
CHAPLAIN:
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Orlando Gibbons’ anthem “O Clap your Hands” is amongst his best known pieces and almost certainly is his grandest work. It takes its text from psalm 47, one of a subgrouping of the royal psalms known as enthronement psalms – songs which call others to praise God in the light of his kingship. Because of this they have become connected with earthly ruling and monarchy also. This is the same psalm of which a section was sung at our own King’s coronation – clap your hands together all you people, rejoice, for the Lord is high and greatly to be feared. Its themes are those of power and kingship; both earthly and heavenly.
But how do we conceive of this power? How do we untangle that power which is earthly and that which is divine? The last 400 years have given a great shift in our conception of kingly power, one which was ultimately played out in the life of Charles I, one with more facets and debates than this homily could ever capture. But today, our current King portrays a more gentle kingship, and following in the path of his mother, our late Queen, one which offers a sense of stability and unity among all people, of many backgrounds and faiths. But as we look across the world we see a spectrum of ruling styles and philosophies, earthly kings of many flavours. And above this bustling throng, this anthem reminds us, God reigns.
We see earthly powers rise and decline, ideologies and philosophies of rule come in and out of fashion. We witness the great harm done by unjust leaders, and see that history sometimes shines unexpected lights on some. We do not know how this era of ours will be remembered. Many words have been written with the aim of defining power, of capturing its essence, of laying out how to rule; in whatever sphere of life, from Machiavelli to management tomes.
But God is beyond these myriad human conceptions. God’s power is beyond our searching, his Kingship above our ideologies: In our psalm, 145, the choir sang: ‘Great is the Lord, and marvellous worthy to be praised : there is no end of his greatness’ – ideals of Kingship or methods of power will change here on earth, but God remains – for his rule is not one of any power as we are able to conceive it.
His power is the type of power made real, made flesh, evident in the cry of a newborn baby, in the touch extended to those in need, or the struggle of a dying breath at the hands of empire. But also in the raising of the dead and the judgement that is to come. We worship a God who is as comfortable, as intimate, with the mess of the manger as with the throne of heaven.
Four hundred years ago, as today in many places around the world, life seemed one full of change and often fraught with confusion or danger. Most of us know these feelings on some level from our own lives. But through the many storms of life; through the greyness of grief, or the tumult of political uncertainty, conflict, or personal illness and pain, God’s presence and God’s love remain unchanging. For God is a great King, as merciful and tender as he is awe inspiring, and in His sure ways we can ever place our trust.
So rejoice, and clap your hands.
CHOIR: Three-fold Amen (Gibbons)
READER 3:
Let us pray:
God of justice we pray for your will to be done in the world around us. As we reflect upon your commands in Deuteronomy, we pray for those held in bondage or any kind of debt. For those struggling with financial burdens, those worn down by the cost of living or gnawing poverty. For those who today are forced into lives of servitude, those who are trafficked or controlled. We pray for a world in which all are seen with their created dignity, and where power is not cruelly wielded over others.
Loving God, whose arms are sanctuary and whose paths are peace, we pray for those cast upon the storms of our own world. For those living with the effects of natural disaster, or human-made conflict. We pray for peace in our world today, for those with the power to bring peace, and for those called to political leadership of any kind. We pray for King Charles and the royal family, giving thanks for his gentle rule.
We lift to you those in need of any kind, those who are anxious or despairing, those who are unwell, in mind, body, or soul. Comfort those who mourn and make your presence familiar to those who feel alone. We pray for those who long to know more of you, those approaching baptism or ordination, and those pondering your call upon their lives.
We wrap these, and the prayers of our own hearts, in the words of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come;
thy will be done; in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.
CHAPLAIN: Our final hymn is Forth in thy name O Lord I go.
CHOIR/ORGAN/CONGREGATION: Forth in thy name O Lord I go (Song 34)
CHAPLAIN: The peace of God which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And the blessing of God almighty; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.
ORGAN: VOLUNTARY: Voluntary in A minor (Gibbons)
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writers and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by: Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
The day after the Summer Solstice, Fr. Will Drosos, the Assistant Rector at my church, preached on this passage from I Kings:
But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
This reminded me of a song by Alanis Morissette, which is on the playlist I’ve prepared for my funeral (it’s too long, and I keep adding to it, and I won’t be there, so I often listen to it in the cool of the morning on my patio).
Song by
How ’bout getting off of these antibiotics?
How ’bout stopping eating when I’m full up?
How ’bout them transparent dangling carrots?
How ’bout that ever elusive kudo?
Thank you, India
Thank you, terror
Thank you, disillusionment
Thank you, frailty
Thank you, consequence
Thank you, thank you, silence
How ’bout me not blaming you for everything?
How ’bout me enjoying the moment for once?
How ’bout how good it feels to finally forgive you?
How ’bout grieving it all one at a time?
Thank you, India
Thank you, terror
Thank you, disillusionment
Thank you, frailty
Thank you, consequence
Thank you, thank you, silence
The moment I let go of it
Was the moment I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it
Was the moment I touched down
How ’bout no longer being masochistic?
How ’bout remembering your divinity?
How ’bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out?
How ’bout not equating death with stopping?
Thank you, India
Thank you, Providence
Thank you, disillusionment
Thank you, nothingness
Thank you, clarity
Thank you, thank you, silence
Yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, oh
Yeah, oh, oh
Yeah, oh, oh, whoa
Yeah, no, oh, oh
No, oh, oh, oh
No, oh, no, oh
No, oh, no, no
No, oh
No, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Ooh
Thank you
Everybody, thanks
Alanis Morissette
We love you
The parallels are obvious. I’m not sure at this stage in his journey Elijah understood what God was saying, but I think Alanis pretty much nails it, For those with Spotify, here’s the link, and a You Tube site as well:
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Lois Herr: First Church of Christ, Scientist, McLean
Many people set aside time in their day for prayer, reflection, or meditation. As a Christian Science practitioner, I often find inspiration in daily audio reflections presented by members of our church, called the Daily Lift.
A recent Daily Lift by Madelon Maupin, from Scottsdale, Arizona, is entitled, “The antidote to extremism.” In this segment, Madelon explains how she has come to use Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount – specifically, the Beatitudes as a way to think and pray about countering extremism. In her remarks, Madelon reminds us, “We all live at the same address and it is called the kingdom of God,” which offers mercy, healing and love.
The Daily Lift is comprised of audio presentations contributed by Christian Science church members worldwide – with the majority coming from the U.S. This particular Lift will remain on the website for thirty days before being retired.
May this segment bring you peace and encouragement.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
The Jewish festival of Shavuot, occurred June 1-3. According to Rabbinic tradition, this celebration marks the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
Amidst the ongoing violence in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Cameroon, and anti-Jewish attacks and other religious-based assaults against peace-loving civilians in the United States and elsewhere, let’s listen to the thoughts of Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, who shared this recording on the BBC recently.
“’I’m your God, don’t abuse me or one another.’ I hear these words with sorrow and shame but also hope. I’m horrified by how we hurt each other, the wars, the cruelty and hunger, yet the world remains intricately and inspiringly beautiful. That’s why I cling to the deeply imaginative interpretation rooted in Jewish mystical thought by the rabbi of Ger, a popular Hasidic teacher who died in 1905.
When God said, I am your God, every creature experienced those words as spoken directly to them. For an instant, every living being, humans, donkeys, birds, understood that their deepest nature, their innermost spirit, comes from and belongs to God. They heard those words, I am your God, not just from the mountaintop but from inside their hearts. Afterwards, everything returned to normal, each human and animal to its separate consciousness, its own reality, in this material world which conceals from us the deepest truth of who we are. But in that moment, we understood that one life, one consciousness, fills us all and that something sacred, something deeper than all divisions, unites us.
For that brief interval, said the rabbi, we were incapable of harming one another. This was long ago, but he maintained, if we listen deeply, we can still catch the after-echo of God’s voice in all creation. If we could be attentive to that voice in our fellow humans and in all life, we would instinctively hold back and, in Isaiah’s words, not cruelly hurt or destroy any living being, but instead do our utmost to bring healing to our world. Maybe it’s that after echo we hear when, in a heartfelt conversation, we reach a pause and sit silently together, knowing that something words can’t reach has touched us.”
Our Rector, the Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith on Easter Sunday used a similar metaphor: we are the after-image of God’s photograph, taken at the time of creation, like the image on your retina after a photograph. And yesterday, on Ascencion Day in the Christian tradition, our parish administrator added in his sermon, quoting the Book of Revelation: we are a “pre-image” of heaven on earth, a shining city.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
The abnormally cool weather has lulled us this year, but soon “they” will be here…. Mosquitoes, I mean. And the latest episode of “Curious Cases” is particularly scary if, like me, you feel unfairly targeted (BBC Radio 4 – Curious Cases, Series 23, Don’t Bite Me!).
I have lots of experience. In Haiti, where the anopheles mosquito carries the malaria, dengue, and even chikungunya viruses (fortunately, the malaria virus has not mutated there and can be controlled with an inexpensive dose – at least to me – chloroquine, though the stronger weekly dose causes amazing dreams and uneasy sleep under the mosquito tent); in Africa, where both the anopheles and aedes aegypti species carry all of the drug-resistant strains; in Taiwan, where dengue threatened the lives of my young children, one of whom was born there; and even in my backyard, where the aegypti in particular thrives.
If you listen to the BBC show you will find there are plenty of benign species. But these two, or rather the parasite or virus that infects them, are especially nasty. And the biters are all female! Unless you believe in reincarnation, the life of a mosquito is less than two weeks (death is usually by swatting), and it takes longer than that for the virus or the parasite to reach maturity. So, the theory is that the virus or parasite makes the mosquitoes sick or sluggish and keeps them away from the human swatters. When the virus or the parasite matures, it makes them extremely aggressive because it craves the protein sucked from human blood.
Even more amazing, the mosquitoes use an evolutionary technique called “behavioral plasticity.”
Now scientists often come up with special terms for things which the rest of us view as commonplace, but in this instance, they use it to describe how the mosquito, a nocturnal insect, realized that more and more humans are using netting. So they adapted by feeding in the early daylight or hanging around elementary schools to feast on unsuspecting children!
Scientists also tend to get carried away with their subject, pointing out that mosquitoes are beautiful and light years ahead of us in adaptability, so they have defeated every DNA-based attempt to rid us of their scourge.
But why do they prefer some people over others. Well, the cool experiment one scientist performed in her lab (they used socks worn by the two BBC presenters) “prove” that if you’re alone, they will go after you, but if you are together with one or more people, they have clear preferences. Lots of theories, but at the end of the show, an older scientist explains that the most likely theory is that some people have better antidotes that prevent itching and scratching, although there may be something in some of us that is more attractive. If you drink a lot, for example, some research shows the mosquitoes will tend to head your way.
So what do we take away from God’s apparent delight in letting these two species buzz around and annoy us, apparently, for eternity? Maybe we should show a bit more plasticity in our own behavior.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
In 2003, Robert Waldinger, a psychoanalyst who would later become an ordained Zen Buddhist priest and who had always been preoccupied by questions “with an existential flavor” accepted an offer from Harvard (I know) to take on one of its most prized possessions, the longest-running wellness study in American history. A dozen years later he reported his findings in a TED Talk. “The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.” Not achievement, not fortune nor fame, but strong, long-term relationships with spouses, family and friends built on deep trust — that’s the best predictor of well-being. Waldinger had worried that this big “news” was so intuitive he would be laughed off the stage; instead, the talk is one of TED’s most watched to date, having over 27 million views.
In 2001, when the men in the long-term study were in their late 70s and early 80s, Waldinger’s predecessor had found one of the best predictors of the men’s overall well-being in their old age was how happily married they had been at age 50. When women were added to the study, the results were the same. One 80-year-old woman told an interviewer she wished she had spent less time getting upset about “silly things” and had spent more “time with my children, husband, mother, father.” For those who reported being in happy marriages, socializing with others in the spouse’s circle also contributed to their happiness. But if one spouse fell into pain or ill health, time spent together alone seemed to protect them from the psychological effects of the physical suffering. He also found that the people who scored highest on measures of attachment to their spouses were also the ones who reported the highest levels of happiness.
Well, so much for modern science, and Harvard! All the religions of the world have been preaching this forever, though few of our ancient forebears reached their 70s or 80s!
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by Stephen Wickman, St. Thomas Episcopal, McLean
I love songs, and the BBC (yes, again) has a neat show called “Inheritance Tracks” that invites celebrities to tell us about one song passed down to them from their parents and one song they want to pass on to future generations. Today Jared Harris – who does look a bit like his more famous father, Richard, and who played General Ulysses S. Grant in “Lincoln” shared that his father had handed down “Fly Me to the Moon” and that Jared wanted to pass on Monty Python’s “Galaxy Song.”
BBC Radio 4 Extra – Inheritance Tracks, Jared Harris
His father sang the Frank Sinatra version all the time, and then Jared’s drama teacher at Duke University said, “Well, you have to listen to Bennett’s version. It’s sublime.” Jared remembers being transported by the “romantic longing.”
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what’s spring is like
on a Jupiter and Mars
In other words
hold my hand
In other words
baby, kiss me
Fill my heart with song
and let me sing forever more
You are all I long for
all I worship and I adore
In other words
Please, be true
In other words
I love you
Fill my heart with song
let me sing forever more
You are all I long for
all I worship and adore
In other words
Please, be true
In other words
In other words
I love you
Songwriters: Paul David Hewson, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Dave Evans, Attrell Stephen Jr. Cordes.
And now for something completely different. (That’s and inside joke for Python fans like me. I grew up watching them on Canadian TV before they aired here.)
At Catholic boarding school, Jared said: “I had that whole doctrine hammered into my head, and I was trying to shake it off me.” But listening to the song as an adult he gained a different perspective: “And you know, you understand that religion and all those things are just early attempts to try and answer the same question, which is that, who are we? Why are we here? How did we get here? Where are we going? There’s never, ever been anybody like you that’s ever been born, and at the same time, we’re just a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny planet, this incredible thing that’s exploding at the speed of light. It’s amazing. So, remember when you’re feeling very small and insecure, how amazingly unlikely is your birth!”
Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown
And things seem hard or tough
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft
And you feel that you’ve had quite enough
Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour
It’s orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it’s reckoned
A sun that is the source of all our power
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm at forty thousand miles an hour
Of the galaxy we call the Milky Way
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars
It’s a hundred thousand light years side to side
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light years thick
But out by us, it’s just three thousand light years wide
We’re thirty thousand light years from galactic central point
We go round every two hundred million years
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe
The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go – the speed of light, you know
Twelve million miles a minute and that’s the fastest speed there is
So remember when you’re feeling very small and insecure
How amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space
‘Cause there’s bugger all down here on earth
Songwriters: John Du Prez, Eric Idle
For non-commercial use only.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Contributed by: Yerusalem Work
May is International Muslim History Month (IMHM). To celebrate, I’m sharing a poem with Islamic themes. The message is universal. The original version I wrote in English and Arabic. By God’s grace, it was translated into Spanish through the arduous work of Norma Margulies, an ardent supporter of interfaith dialogue.
A masjid is a mosque. According to a Hadith (a collected saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him), “the entire earth is a masjid.”
Norma and I met at a mosque during an interfaith gathering called Solidarity Cup of Tea. And these are the fruits of our labor. I hope you enjoy the poetry below. May it inspire you to search the world over for friendship and love, beauty and peace.
With faith,
Yeru
LINK TO POEM: INTERNATIONAL MUSLIM HISTORY MONTH (MAY)
Yerusalem Work, a creative writer and the membership director of the Congregational Library Association, has a heart for interfaith dialogue and is a passionate community builder. A holder of a master’s degree in library science and prolific author, she regularly blogs and self-publishes her writing. Her short stories and poetry have been published in Muslim Matters and Tysons Interfaith. She considers it an honor and a pleasure to write on Islamic themes.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.