On June 16th Rev. Nat Carter and I attended this moving interfaith memorial at the historic Grace Chapel AME Church on Charles Street in Beaufort. The memorial marked the first anniversary of the tragic shooting which took place at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina on June 17th 2015. Nine lives were taken including The church's senior pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney who was also a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 45th District from 2000 until his death. 

The Emanuel  AME church was founded in 1816 and it is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal Church in the South, often referred to as "Mother Emanuel". It is the oldest historically black congregation south of Baltimore. The memorial was organized in a most commendable way by the Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort. The sanctuary was packed with representatives of all the mainline churches as well as other faiths including Bahá'í, Judaism, Orisa (a west African based indigenous religion), and Islam. Rev. Nat and I represented Unity at the faith roll call.

Among the most memorable moments for me were the beautiful reading from Bahá'í scripture by Ms. Victoria Smalls and the address by former state representative Bakari Sellers (pictured above), a friend of the much lamented Clementa Pinckney, who had been born in city of Beaufort, SC.

Nine candles were lit, the name of a victim spoken by a faith leader with the lighting of each one. A 10th candle was lit in memory of the Orlando victims. The candle for Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was lit by Ms. Smalls who had known her in college. This was unbeknownst to the person who assigned the candles to the faith leaders who lit them, and for me much increased the poignancy of this ceremony.
 
This is a prayer from the sacred texts of the Baha'i' Faith by 'Abdu'l-Baha, as read by Ms. Victoria Smalls from the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í s of Beaufort County.
 
O Thou kind Lord!
Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence.
O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy.
O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony.
O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.
O God! Establish the Most Great Peace.
Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together.
O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence.
Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind.

This presentation arose out discussions I had with Franciscan Sister Annie whom I met at the Eldering retreat offered through Mepkin Abbey's Contemplative Aging Institute, under the direction of Father Guerric Heckel. The video and book were produced by Sister Annie's colleague Sister Kathleen Warren, OSF. I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Parliament of the World's Religions 10/18/15. The beautiful icon is the work of Franciscan Iconographer Br. Robert Lentz.

In the Footprints of Francis and the Sultan
Since September 11, 2001, violence between Muslims and Christians, who together make up more than 50 percent of the world’s population, has escalated radically. More than ever we need models for peacemaking and ways to educate one another on our common ground. Pope Frances took his name in honor of St. Francis and he has done a great deal to live up to that name. The Vatican’s Treaty with the Palestinian state is the most recent evidence of his efforts. This class will present a 44 minute video In the Footprints of Francis and the Sultan: A Model of Peacemaking and will be followed by a group discussion. This video shares the story of St. Francis and Sultan Malek al-Kamil and a little-known thirteenth-century peace initiative in the Middle East. In 1219 during the Fifth Crusade, Francis took it upon himself to cross battle lines and reach out to the enemy. These countercultural efforts of Francis, a simple friar, and Malek al-Kamil, the leader of the Muslim forces of the Levant, made these men most unusual in their time. This video examines their efforts on behalf of peace in order to help us, in our time, negotiate inter-religious misunderstanding and hostility, and other difficult encounters between conflicting peoples.

     My beloved Christina has given us a timely new meme which I was moved to turn into a bumper sticker. I received them in the mail yesterday and put one on my truck today! PLEASE share this sentiment widely and if you would like a bumpersticker yourself you can order them from the SUPPORT tab above.

     How many of you are familiar with “Kill them all and let God sort them out.” This “motto” became popular during the Vietnam War among American Special Forces troops. My beloved C’s bachelors degree was in medieval history and she was aware that the phrase’s origin was in the Crusades waged in France against the Albigensians, who came to be more widely known as the Cathars. They were Christians, but they rejected the authority of the Pope and other key aspects of Catholicism, so they were deemed heretics by the Catholic Church.

     On July 22, 1209, in the French town of Beziers, as they were celebrating the annual Feast of Mary Magdalene when suddenly the festivities were cut short when an army of “Crusaders” sent by Pope Innocent III showed up outside the walls of the town. The military leader of the army was Simon de Montfort, a French nobleman highly motivated by the Pope’s promise that he could keep the land of any heretics he killed. The Crusaders were accompanied by an official representative of the Pope, a French Cistercian monk named Arnaud Amalric. According to accounts as the attack began, a soldier asked Amalric how they would be able to tell which Beziers townspeople were Catholics and which were Cathars. Amalric supposedly answered (in French): “Kill them all. God will recognize his own.”