For those of you blessed to attend our Lights On! Applying the Golden Rule to Bridge Religious and Political Divides event this past Sunday, you got to witness first-hand how it is possible for us to join with those with whom we don’t share common religious beliefs or practices and still enjoy one another as fellow children of God. To me, this was the big take-away and gift for us all. Focusing not on religious difference but, rather, on our common humanity seemed key to creating an environment of peace and joy.
We, in the Interfaith tradition, however, do take this a step further. We don’t just recognize our common humanity with all our brothers and sisters, regardless of religious beliefs, we also embrace what we believe is our common divinity. Or like we enjoy saying at the Tree of Life Interfaith Temple, Many are the Ways We Pray to One God. Thinking about this took me back to an important time when I needed to stand and claim this clearly. Here is the story . . .
I still couldn’t believe I was sitting there in that classroom at Andover Newton Theological School in 2014, officially starting my doctoral program. At sixty-four, my mind was whispering, “What are you doing?” And if you’ve read my memoir, Dancing on the Moon: The Non-Ordinary Life I Never Saw Coming, a Spiritual Memoir, you’d know why I was filled with such acute anxiety about the road ahead.
But, as with so many times, it was abundantly clear that this was exactly where I needed to be as it certainly seemed as if divine providence had cleared the way. And, as had always been the case, I could never have imagined what was coming.
There had been fewer than ten of us accepted so I got to know my classmates fairly well right from the start. We were a very diverse group, coming from various ethnic backgrounds, different parts of the country, and one coming from Africa. The common denominator was all of us were either ministers or had extensive experience in a related ministry field, and all of us came from being steeped solely in the Christian faith tradition, all, that is, except me.
Toward the end of the first day, our professor, Dr. Sarah Drummond, Academic Dean, who would become the most influential person in my academic journey, announced that we’d each be required to lead a morning devotional. When she asked who would like to go first, I saw my hand, as if it had some kind of foreign life all its own, slowly rise. “Great, Stephanie. You can lead us in the morning.” Morning?!!
Walking back to my dorm room, the “What are you doing?” became louder but this time took on expanded meaning realizing I was the only student not steeped solely in the Christian tradition. I called my husband, Doug, and said, “Well, I guess it’s time to find out if I really do belong here.” All I kept hearing was that great wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita, Sloka 18:47: “It is better to do your own dharma [divine purpose] imperfectly than to do another’s perfectly.” I knew deeply that I needed to do “me.”
After dinner, I sat down and within half an hour had written The One Called by Many Names. Yes, I would go in full bore. No holding back. I’d offer a devotional that expressed my full heart. If it didn’t fly, well, perhaps this was just an initial step toward some other outcome God had in mind. I’d long learned not to question such things, or to just assume a particular outcome, as my non-ordinary life had repeatedly shown me the folly of that.
The next morning, I first led a centering and then went into The One Called by Many Names, and ended with a short period of silence. Dr. Drummond was slow to open her eyes. When she did, she said quietly, “I didn’t want that to end.” After I explained to my classmates that the A’bwoon D’Bashmaya was the opening of the Lord’s Prayer, Our Father which art in heaven, in Aramaic, a minister from down south chimed in, “I didn’t understand a word you said but we need some of that. I’d like you to come to my church and teach us the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic.”
And so, I realized that God had, indeed, placed me exactly where I needed to be.
Here is The One Called by Many Names and I’ve also included an audio for your enjoyment. The music behind the audio is “The Gift of Love,” which was played by our flutist in between speakers at Lights On! I couldn’t find one on flute as lovely as our flutist played so I settled on this lovely piano from Hymn Lullabies by O Waly Waly. https://youtu.be/WRITiaF0mH8?si=YzRMgANSrYexeBBm
The One Called by Many Names
I am the One called by many names.
Be Still.
Listen.
I am as close as your breath and as dear as your heartbeat.
Be Still.
Listen.
You will hear Me on the wind, echoing through all faith traditions.
In Hinduism…
You will hear Me in the great OM
for, here, all My sounds reside.
In Buddhism…
You will hear Me in OM MANI PADMI HUNG
for I am the jewel in the heart of the lotus.
It is because of Me you blossom, not in spite of, but because of.
In Judaism…
You will hear Me in SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ELOHEINU ADONAI EHAD
for I AM the Lord Thy God and we are One.
In Sikhism…
You will hear Me in EK ONG KAR SAT NAM SIRI WAHE GURU
for I am the True Wisdom bringing you from darkness to light.
In Islam & Sufism…
You will hear Me in LA IL LA HA IL LA ALLAH
for when you know Me, you know there is nothing but God.
In Christianity…
You will hear Me in A’BWOON D’BWASHMAYA
for I am the Formless One bringing form to all creation.
I am the One called by many names.
Be Still.
Listen.
I am as close as your breath and as dear as your heartbeat.
Be Still.
Listen.
You will hear Me on the wind, echoing through all faith traditions.
Stephanie Rutt 