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Barcelona 2004—Parliament of the WORLD'S RELIGIONS

"One hundred times a day, I say I am thankful."
This is the message that sticks with me from the Parliament of World Religions. These are the words of a Japanese Priest in San Francisco, reported by Canon Charles Gibbs. The priest was sick and depressed. He had the insight that his depression came from his lack of gratitude. He resolved to say "I am grateful" when he got up in the morning, when he went to bed at night, and ninety eight times in between.
     His depression went away,
     Starting with thanksgiving every day.

One example of thanksgiving was the Sikh Gurdwara by the beach in Barcelona. Each day for seven days, thousands came for a free vegetarian meal. Most sat on the floor and lifted our plates to be served rice and beans, macaroni and flat bread. Over one hundred Sikhs, young and old, from Europe, India, and North America lived in tents by the beach. Charles Gibbs called the meal at the Gurdwara "the heart of the Assembly—pumping life blood into our Parliament."

Before the Parliament, the was a three day gathering for 400 at Montserrat Abbey. Jopie and I were met at the airport and taken by bus a little over a hour west of Barcelona. We approached a jagged mountain that looked like a Òserrated knife.Ó Hence the name, "Montserrat." Up the winding road we went to the thousand year old Monastery perched on the edge of Montserrat. The central object of worship in the Basilica is a small black Madonna over 500 years old. One evening we filled the church for a concert by their boy's choir, including two songs by Pablo Casals, who was driven out of Spain by Franco. During breaks in the day, we walked along mountain paths. The first morning I walked past fourteen Stations of the Cross to a shrine of the Madonna. When I returned, I found I had just missed the last Funicular before the lunch break.
So up the mountain I climbed, glad to have the health to do so.

Starting that afternoon, we met in groups to discuss four interrelated issues: Water, Refugees; Debt, and Violence. I was in the section on "Overcoming Religiously—Motivated Violence." A minister from America said, he was challenged by the statement,
"Conservative Christian Theology may be fuelling the fires of violence." We start by saying, "In my fatherÕs house are many mansions." Good. Like the old Negro Spiritual, "There are twelve Gates to the City." But then comes a provocation to bloodshed, "No one comes to the Father, except by me." It is difficult to love your neighbour when your neighbour says that you are going to Hell because you do not accept his religion. Lawrence Carter is the Dean of the Martin Luther King Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He said, "The problem today is not fundamentalism, but fanaticism. Fanatics use a sacred text to justify violence. He quoted Gandhi, "Violence is the language of the unheard."

"To love is to listen." We agreed, "We cannot achieve peace unless we believe that we can learn from others." We all resent "Know-it-alls." "Know-it-alls" in religion are just as resented. A blessing of Montserrat and the Parliament at Barcelona was sharing with those of many different faiths who were willing to listen. Most also pledged a specific act that they will do to help heal the world.

In Barcelona, the Parliament was part of a six month Forum of Cultures at a new centre by the sea. As the Parliament opened we were welcomed by the mayor and by the Archbishop of Barcelona. We were told the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism is a fixed belief that good things are coming, regardless of the facts. Some political leaders project that optimism today.
HOPE is working for the future regardless of the facts. Religions are the peel of the banana. Spirituality is the fruit within.

The Parliament of Religions is a celebration of diversity. The choice of one hundred different events each day can be numbing. Yet the overall experience is a reminder that there are many flowers in the world of religion. And some of the flowers have thorns. A Rabbi said, "We are not all brothers. Just as Hinduism is the father of Buddhism, so Judaism is the father of Christianity and Islam. Implied was the notion that there should be a special respect for the "Father."Or as George Orwell put it in Animal Farm: "Some are more equal than others." I thought of Orwell as we were reminded that in 1939, Barcelona was the last stand of the Spanish Republic against Franco. We were told that on the site of our Assembly, three thousand Spanish Republican Prisoners were murdered by Franco's Army.

One day, Jopie and I skipped the Parliament and rode the tourist bus around Barcelona, getting off to see a home designed by Gaudi, and stopping to enjoy his fantastic church which is still under construction. In the garden of the church we joined over 3,000 for an interfaith concert. The greatest performer was the cave—like face of the church, a mystical miracle behind the musicians.

There were Sufi whirling dervishes, Japanese Drummers, and many speeches. I was the one English speaker joining three Spaniards on "Michael Servetus and Religious Freedom." Servetus was born 200 miles west of Barcelona. The Protestant leaders of Geneva burned him alive for heresy in 1553.

Among the panels and small groups of the Parliament, one titled The Battle for God, made a special impact. Karen Armstrong opened with a speech based on her new book, The Battle for God.
She told us that Fundamentalism is a reaction against secular modernity: A withdrawal to an enclave to block out modernism (Circle the wagons!). In contrast Karen said, "I am happy to live in the modern world. In earlier times I would have been burned as a witch. ...About 400 years ago, new technology and investment began to establish the modern world. Fundamentalism is an effort to cope with secular modernity.

A Muslim woman, Dr. Kamar, replied. She said, A young man was asked, "What do you hope for? He replied, I hope to be a grandfather." How can we nurture a world in which children can hope to be grandparents? How can we build a culture on human ground, celebrating difference? I do not like the word "tolerance."
We are not just to tolerate, but to respect and honour one another.

Michael Lerner, an American Jewish writer said, "To respond to Fundamentalism requires us to identify with all earth and all humanity. I think we are in a world of two Fundamentalisms: modernism, and religious fundamentalism. ...Modernism tells us that money and power are the only measure. We have witnessed the triumph of materialism, which is now forcing itself on the rest of the world. It is an alternative religious system. ...The battle is not modernism the good against fundamentalism the evil. We need a new bottom line. We need a global religion for the healing of the soul. Not money and power, but the degree to which people are maximised to be loving, caring and in cooperation with nature. ... We need to stop thinking that Fundamentalists are irrational. We need to affirm that which is right in their response against modernism.

Karen Armstrong responded, "I absolutely agree with Michael that Modernism is also a Fundamentalism. I agree with Dr. Kamar that tolerance is not enough. We need compassion, empathy, to feel the other's pain."

Mornings, I delighted in rising early and walking along the beach from our Hotel to 8 AM devotionals. Marcus Braybrooke, the President of the World Congress of Faiths, led a service of "Water as Life" in which I led the song, "Come, come, whoever you are."

On the last morning of the conference, I attended the worship led by Joan Shenandoah, a Native American from the Iroquois nation.
She took us back to the real story of Longfellow's poem Hiawatha.
She sang, "Lo, Ne, Ho, No, Hiawatha." An evil chief had killed his daughter. Hiawatha was so grieved, that he lay in stillness by the Great Lake for days. One morning, the ducks sprinkled water on him as they rose from the Lake. He realized he must forgive, get on with life. He must not carry a grudge.

For the healing of the world, we are called to forgive and get on with life. "Not grudgingly, nor of necessity, for the Lord loveth a cheerful giver." Every day, make a gift to the world. Do not worship the idols of nation, modernism or religion. Do not worship the idol of the status quo. Yes, we have terror and war. We have also been part of a change in the status of women. Patriarchy is largely overthrown in the West! Why? The women refused to be realistic. They would not accept that "The Way Things Are" is the way things must be.
     May I forgive and get on with life.
     May I act with a vision of hope.
     May I start each hour with thanksgiving.

It is another way of saying "The Lord's Prayer."
      —Amen.