As those of you know who have followed our work with Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, we have for a number of years partnered with the governor's office in proclaiming January as South Carolina's Interfaith Harmony Month. This year due to the Covid virus we were unable to have the in person meetings and events which have grown ever more popular and diverse over the years and instead developed a number of wonderful virtual meetings and presentations which were very successful. In some ways it was a great blessing and that many events which were local for some and would require a fair amount of travel for others became equally available to all.
 
As a part of my contribution to the events I was able to conduct a couple of video interviews with real powerhouses in the interfaith movement. Dr. Barbara Fields serves as the Executive Director of the Association of Global New Thought which also engages in a lot of interfaith work. Perhaps the most famous aspect of their work is the annual Gandhi/King Season of Peace which takes place each year beginning January 30th and runs 64 days until April 4th.  She was program director for the 1993 Parliament of the World’s Religions. For more information please visit WWW.AGNT.ORG We had a lovely time, and to watch this nearly one hour interview click on Dr. Fields image
 
The secondary interview was with Dr. Larry Greenfield, Pres. Emeritus of the Parliament of World Religions. Dr. Greenfield has been involved in many interfaith initiatives over the years as well as an ongoing commitment to the Baptist movement with which she has been affiliated for many many years. Our interview also ran nearly to one hour in length and I believe we covered some exciting topics which I'm anxious to share with you. To watch this interview click on Dr. Greenfield's image

The UICC (Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort) was formed in response to the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston. A concerned group of Beaufort clergy began gathering to reflect on how faith communities in Beaufort might come together in such a way as to build relationships across historic divisions, in hopes that this might reduce the chance of such violent and hateful acts occurring in our community. This gathering evolved into the Unified Interfaith Community Coalition (UICC), a group of faith community leaders of different races and religions whose purpose is to foster interracial and interreligious harmony in our community.

Since that time the UICC has evolved and has developed a number of events and programs for the interfaith community of Beaufort County, South Carolina. A number of those events have been highlighted in these pages. Today I’d like to report on our 2019 remembrance of the mother Emanuel nine, which was held June 17, as it was on its second occasion, held at the historic Grace Chapel AME on Charles Street in Beaufort. As has been the case throughout these years the Rev. Jeannine R. Smalls, who is pastor at Grace AME Church on Lady’s Island and who is the founder of UICC, offered the welcome and introduced the various guests as the evening progressed. To view the video of this event visit here: vimeo.com/348051013

This year the Rev. Kenneth F Hodges, pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church offered the opening prayer. Tabernacle Baptist is just across the street and a reception was held there following the service. On the grounds of Tabernacle Baptist is a very fine sculpture of Robert Smalls, who made a daring sea escape during the Civil War as a slave (bringing a number of others as well) and went on to serve five terms in Congress as a Representative from South Carolina. Since 2016 Rev. Hodges has been working toward building a monument for Harriet Tubman which will be installed on those same grounds. To learn more about this project and how you can contribute visit https://www.harriettubmanmonument.com/the-tabernacle-baptist-church.

Our keynote speaker was the Rev. Joseph A. Darby Sr., Pastor at Nichols Chapel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Rev. Darby also serves as vice president of the Charleston NAACP. In introducing him Rev. Jeannine also shared that he has been a mentor to her over the years. Rev. Darby’s talk was succinct and to the point, emphasizing the need to continue our reaching across all the lines of division and promoting harmony. The grace and quiet authority of this minister’s voice moved all who were present.

There was a candle lighting service conducted by Liz Santagati and Westley Byrne, and a Sharing of Intentions activity conducted by Rabbi TZiPi, all knit together with music flowing from the keyboard of Bishop Jack L. Bomar, presiding prelate, United Church as well as mother Cleo and Dawn Peebles of United Church.

The solid presence of very Jewish brothers and sisters was evidenced by Rabbi TZiPi Radonsky opening the evening with the blowing of the shofar and the beautiful singing by Gail Touger of Lo Yisa Goy in a duet with Bishop Jack. And also by the short address of the Hon. Billy Keyserling, Mayor of the city of Beaufort, who is Jewish. The Muslim community was represented and I’m sad to say that I do not have the names of those who attended to share with you. A roll call of the various churches that were represented revealed a number of Christian churches, as well as Unitarian Universalists and members of the Baha’i faith.

Since this beautiful event we’ve had a UICC board meeting and I can assure you that there are plans in the works for a number of events and we’ll keep you posted as they evolve.

On the evening of June 17, 2015 Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, assassinated nine African Americans, including the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney, during a prayer service at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. I use the word "assassinated" as opposed to the more common term "murdered" because Roof confessed to committing the shooting in the hope of igniting a race war. The shooting targeted one of the United States' oldest black churches, which has long been a site for community organization around civil rights.

In June of 2016 I attended the first annual memorial service held at Grace Chapel A. M. E. in Beaufort, SC. with my friend Rev. Nat Carter and was so moved that I immediately became involved with the organization now known as UICC, Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort. Founded by Rev. Jeannine Smalls, this is our fourth year producing the event, this year returning to the Historic Grace Chapel, sister church to Mother Imanuel.

Out of that response to the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, a concerned group of Beaufort clergy and community leaders began gathering to reflect on how faith communities in Beaufort might come together in such a way as to build relationships across historic divisions, in hopes that this might reduce the chance of such violent and hateful acts occurring in our community. Although this annual memorial is our best known event we also have an annual New Years Interfaith gathering in alignment with the annual Governor's proclamation of January as South Carolina's Interfaith Harmony Month, and a number of other activities throughout the year.

    This Program was offered by the Parliament’s Indigenous Working Group and First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) and was designed so that it could be completed in one day. It was the one thing I wanted to do for myself at the 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions in Toronto which took place November 2 - 6, 2018. I was attending  as an ambassador for the Parliament and as a  journalist, and thus had responsibilities which limited the time available to me personally.  It took a number of days to fit enough of these presentations and activities into my schedule to complete the requirements. All in all I attended eleven workshops and film presentations as well as a number of ceremonies both inside and outside at the the sacred fire.

    I am  grateful to our hosts the Anishinaabe and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. Deep gratitude to the firekeepers who tended the sacred fire 24 hours a day even though it was often bitterly cold  and made it possibly for me and many others to offer tobacco and pray at any hour.  I was excited by and very much enjoyed the presence of indigenous elders from the United States as well, including Hopi, Dinè (often called Navajo), Paiute, Zuni, Havasupai, Tongva and Lakota/Dakota, especially Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations, and keeper the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle and its teachings. I had heard him address the Spotlight on Indigenous Peoples plenary at the 2015 Parliament in Salt Lake City, Utah. My 40 years of interfaith work has been inspired by intertwined with Native American spirituality and culture, both in Utah (particularly among the nations of our hosts at the 2015 Parliament, the Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone) and for the last few years in South Carolina among the Edisto, Catawba and Cherokee peoples. Although I was blessed with bits and pieces of a number of events and interactions I attended the following sessions in their entirety:

    The Opening Ceremony at the sacred fire, the Native American Church, Tradition bearers for Bio-cultural diversity, Sacred Water, Earth changes & Prophecy, Original Instruction  (I just loved Elder Tom Porter or Sakokwenionkwas “The One Who Wins”, of the Mohawk’s (Kanien'kehá:ka.) birthing prayer! Everyone should start their lives this way. In this prayer the newborn is told who they are, where they are, in whose hands they have been entrusted, the sacred vow of the parents to protect, guide and nurture them and all else that comes into the heart of the father. This prayer can often last forty-five minutes to an hour. Porter was a co-founder the ‘White Roots of Peace’, a group of Iroquois Elders who tour the country sharing traditional teachings and encouraging Indians to embrace their respective Native traditions.), Sacred Pipe Ceremony, Climate Crisis, Evolving Spirituality, Declaration of a new Initiative to Protect Sacred Lands (I was graced to listen to Elder Besha Blondin of the Dené first nation of the Northern Athabaskan peoples in Canada again whom I had met in 2015), Four Directions Ceremony, National Monument, "Indians" of Old Europe (I was grateful for this Pagan perspective given by Andras Corban Arthen, a POWR Trustee and President of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions), and Indigenous Eden.

    I bathed in the loving humility of Manulani Aluli Meyer who spoke from the perspective of the indigenous people of Hawai’I and shared Ulu a'e ke welina a ke aloha (Loving is the practice of an awake mind) and gifted me with a bag of sea salt that she had gathered.  Also very inspired to hear L. Frank Manriquez, a Tongva culture bearer whose passion is to reclaim and revitalize traditional knowledge for not only her people, but for the vast network of California tribal peoples. The story of the decimation of the indigenous peoples of California is as heart breaking as any I know. I would also like to mention Lyla June Johnston a descendent of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages. I first meant this powerful young activist/poet at a presentation she gave at the Parliament in 2015 in Salt Lake City. I spent some time in her presence at the 2018 Parliament in Toronto as I videoed Trebbe Johnson's Panel discussion 'The Sacred Arts: Creative Expressions of Faith to Heal a Troubled Earth' to which Lyla June eloquently contributed. We'll hear much more from this wise woman as time unfolds. You can find a number of presentations by her on YouTube.

    Much of the offerings took place in the Lodge of Nations which was a re-creation of a traditional long house,  which sheltered the spiritual dimension of those things that were shared in such a sacred manner.  Deep bows of gratitude to Anishinaabe leader Bob Goulais of the Nipissing First Nation and Diane Longboat of the Kanien'kehá:ka. (Mohawk) Nation at Six Nations Grand River Territory, who organized and facilitated the events held in the Lodge of Nations and at the Sacred Fire. To them I say ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒧᐎᓐ Miigwech, and Nia:wen!

    Behind and thoroughly mixed in with all of this was the Truth and Reconciliation process underway in Canada. I met many folks whose lives were personally touched by the cultural genocide of the 'Residential Schools'. There is a video on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada website, of Commissioner Justice Murray Sinclair, an Ojibwa judge from the court of the Queen’s Bench, Manitoba, which clearly tells the back story, the purpose, and processes of the commission. I heard him address a plenary at the Parliament and was very moved by his eloquence. I’ve taken the following from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada webpage:

“For over 100 years, Aboriginal children were removed from their families and sent to institutions called residential schools. The government-funded, church-run schools were located across Canada and established with the purpose to eliminate parental involvement in the spiritual, cultural and intellectual development of Aboriginal children. The last residential schools closed in the mid-1990s. During this chapter in Canadian history, more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were forced to attend these schools some of which were hundreds of miles from their home. The cumulative impact of residential schools is a legacy of unresolved trauma passed from generation to generation and has had a profound effect on the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians. Collective efforts from all peoples are necessary to revitalize the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society – reconciliation is the goal. It is a goal that will take the commitment of multiple generations but when it is achieved, when we have reconciliation - it will make for a better, stronger Canada.”

    I am hoping that this Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada will someday become a model for a similar and much needed process here in the United States. In Utah, where I grew up, there was the infamous Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City which ultimately had students from nearly 100 tribes by the time that it was closed in 1984. And then there was The Indian Placement Program, or Indian Student Placement Program (ISPP), also called the Lamanite Placement Program, which was operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) officially operating from 1954 and virtually closed by 1996. Native American students who were baptized members of the LDS Church were placed in foster homes of LDS members during the school year. They attended majority-white public schools, rather than the Indian boarding schools or local schools on the reservations. The program was developed according to LDS theology, whereby conversion and assimilation to Mormonism could help Native Americans, who had been classified as Lamanites in terms of theology in the Book of Mormon. An estimated 50,000 Native American children went through this program. These were just local to me in a small part of the west, hundreds of thousands of native folk throughout the country suffered similar fates.

    That was what I wanted to share about my personal experience in pursuing the Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Awareness, I welcome comments from others who enrolled or have something to add, you'll find a button down below.

Although this material is still available elsewhere I’d like to share some more details, mostly taken from the ICA page on the Parliament’s website:

The 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto may be your starting point to discovering a renewed appreciation of Indigenous worldview and taking an important step to Reconciliation action.
The Indigenous Peoples’ Program of the 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions is offering a Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Awareness. This full-day offering (minimum 8 hours) will provide a wide-ranging and informative primer into Indigenous peoples of the world, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in Canada.

Developed by the Toronto-based Indigenous Steering Committee, their mission is to develop an inclusive and diverse program that creates awareness of Indigenous spiritual and faith traditions to all those attending the 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions. The Steering Committee consists of knowledgeable Indigenous people and cultural-practitioners from nations across Turtle Island, and led by representatives of Indigenous traditional societies.

About FNTI
The Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Awareness is issued by First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) one of the foremost Indigenous post-secondary institutes in Ontario. First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) is a First Nation owned and governed educational institute specializing in applying Indigenous knowledge to both formal and informal learning experiences. Many of our programs and services are delivered at locations across Ontario.

FNTI is accredited by the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC), and is a member of the Ontario Aboriginal Institutes Consortium and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan).

About ICA Certificate Program
The Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Awareness (ICA) is issued by the Indigenous Working Group and FNTI. It will require registered ICA participants to attend and complete a minimum of eight (8) hours in the Indigenous Peoples’ Program of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. The ICA participant will register for a full-day of programming that could include elements of the following:
 
   Daybreak Ceremony
   Over 60 Indigenous developed, led and delivered workshops, panels, film screenings and other content-specific sessions to choose from
    Blanket Exercise
    Water Walk and Water Ceremonies
    The Lodge of Nations: A beautiful and important Indigenous sacred space that will be the centerpiece to the Indigenous Peoples’ program.
     Ceremonies, teachings, prophecies, story-telling and sharing of Indigenous traditional knowledge

What is Indigenous Cultural Awareness?
Indigenous Cultural Awareness (ICA) refers to the development of knowledge, skills and improving the understanding of Indigenous people, culture, history and worldview. It goes beyond a typical academic approach to Indigenous awareness. It implies knowledge transfer from Indigenous peoples themselves through a cultural experience, Indigenous traditional knowledge learning within accepted contexts and protocols, including participation in knowledge sharing, teachings and in ceremony. In most cases, building Indigenous Cultural Awareness involves reaching the participant holistically, through immersion of the body, through the senses, the mind as well as reaching the spirit. It is a step towards Cultural Competency.

Cultural Wisdom from many Nations:
The program featured teachers, traditional Indigenous knowledge holders and Faith Keepers from many nations, including:
Anishinaabe (Mississauga, Ojibway, Chippewa, Odawa, Pottawatomi, Algonquin), Haudenosaunee (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Caguga, Tuscarora), Métis, Cree (Mushkegowuk and Plains Cree), Hawaiian, Maori, European Indigenous traditions, Hopi, Lena Lenape (Delaware), Dene (Blackfoot), Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Apache, Choctaw, African Indigenous traditions, Karamojong (Uganda), Cheyenne,     Aleut, Maya …and many more.

Workshop Topics and Titles
ICA participants were able to choose from over 60 workshops, feature panels, presentations, film screenings and other content-specific sessions, including:
    Impact of Colonization on the Health of Indigenous People in Canada
    Lana Gets Her Talk: Documentary Film Presentation & Conversation
    Ininew Pamatisiwin (Cree World View)
    Indigenous Eden: New Perspectives on an Ancient Foundational Beliefs
    The Twisted Roots of the Doctrines of Discovery
    Sacred Fire Ceremony of the Tzs'utujil Maya
    Iwi Kupuna: Caring for Our Ancestors
    Your Place is an Indigenous Place: Using Digital Humanities to Illuminate and Assert
    Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation
    Anishinabe 101
    Reclaiming the Indigenous Ethnic Religions of Europe
    Why Spirit Matters: Expanding Our Sense of the Sacred
    Reconciliation, Dialogue & Hope - An ongoing relationship with Canada's Indigenous Peoples
    Reclaiming Our Indigenous Spirituality and Sacred Sites
    Envisioning the Future through Indigenous Ceremony and Wisdom
    Lifting the Spirit: Healing through our Connection to Sound Vibrations of the Human Voice
    Sweat Lodge Teachings
    Creation of Love
    Tradition Bearers for Bio-cultural Diversity
    Colorado Plateau: Sanctuary - A Message of Hope
    Protection of Land and Sacred Sites
    Climate Change
    Traditional Medicine & Gardening
    Spirit of the Environment and Stewardship of Mother Earth
    Emerging Spirit: Transcending Colonization
    Indigenous Eden: New Perspectives on an Ancient Foundational Beliefs
    Reconciliation
    Indigenous Women Leading Change Panel of Prominent Women
    Water Rights for Indigenous Peoples
    Native American Grave Protection
    Sacred Feminine
    Ancient Skills Workshop
    Learning together through the Blanket Ceremony
    Doctorate of Cultural Genocide, Intergenerational Trauma: The Way Forward
    Intercultural Understanding & Awareness
    Prophecies: Global Change & Emerging Civilizations
    African Spirituality

In closing I have to say that in pursuing this certificate my experience at the Parliament was much enriched. I hope that a similar program will be part of the next Parliament of the World’s Religions!
 
 
 
 
 

UICC (Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort) began in response to the Mother Emmanuel 9 assassination June 17, 2015. We work to ease tensions and promote harmony in the Beaufort County region of SC's Lowcountry. Founded by Rev. Jeannine Smalls, Pastor Grace AME Church, sister church to Mother Emmanuel. This is our third January/New Year celebration.

“Imagine an ocean moment: two waves converging in the same time and space. One is powerful but subsiding, the other just gathering momentum and presence but not yet cresting. At the moment of their meeting they are nearly equal in amplitude and influence. As they cross, who can say which is rising, which descending? In that moment only the chaos of wave interference exists. Now imagine modernity as a powerful wave of cultural values that crested half a century ago and is slowly beginning to subside. At the same time, a second wave of countervailing values rises equally slowly, building until its crest begins to rival the declining energy of the older wave”. This central image from James Kenney’s book offers a very clear and hopeful metaphor for the chaotic times in which we find ourselves.

I became aware of this important and timely book through the Association for Global New Thought’s online salon “New Thought on the News”, as the book’s central concept forms the basis of the dialogue as well as the lens through which each monthly topic is viewed. I have been involved in the Unity movement for a number of years now and Unity is one denomination of New Thought, along with Christian Science, Centers for Spiritual Living, Agape and others.  All New Thought affiliates place the importance of consciousness foremost in producing the changes we wish to manifest in our lives and in the world. At the extreme end of this understanding there are those who believe that it is best to just turn off the news, turn inward with prayer and meditation, forwarding the claim that ours is not to make the world right but to see it rightly. At the other end of the spectrum are those who are wanting to abandon this passive approach and get involved in direct action, perceiving evil in the world and picking up the gauntlet. There is a middle ground, where one remains engaged with the world, keeping up on current affairs and responding to a duty to “Stand Up, Speak Up, Show Up” in the words of Unity Minister Rev. Darlene Strickland. In this middle ground we do not pick arguments, promote confrontation nor assign blame, rather we look to find positive interpretations of the phenomena around us and to hold up a vision for self and others of the world towards which we are actively moving. AGNT’s New Thought on the News provides us with many tools holding this middle ground. We must stand in our truth and do so together.

In order to understand both Mr. Kenney’s passion and unique qualifications for writing about these topics it is useful to note some of the ways in which he has served. In 1988, he became a founding trustee of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions and served as global director through the 1999 Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the Founder and Executive Director, Interreligious Engagement Project, and Co-founder, Executive Director, Common Ground, and Founding Trustee, International Committee for the Peace Council  and currently Project Coordinator; bringing together some of the world’s most revered and influential religious and spiritual leaders in service to world peace. He also serves as Co-Editor, Interreligious Insight: a Journal of Dialogue and Engagement.

Providing greater detail on these waves Mr. Kenney writes “In Western culture the modern wave has long been dominant. Deeply rooted in classical antiquity and European history, the modern wave has profoundly shaped every culture in the world. In our own time, however, we have begun to sense the weakening of its influence and to recognize the growing strength of a challenging newer value wave. This younger wave represents positive change. It is the wave of future possibility in the present, the advent of a cultural evolutionary transformation.”

Here I’ll quote him at length:
“As the long-dominant older wave loses amplitude and the newer one surges, we cross the threshold into an interesting time. The cultural critique—of patriarchy, the legitimacy of war, ecological exploitation and pollution, racism, injustice, religious exclusivism, and imperialism—has arguably never been more pronounced. At the same time, we’ve begun to explore and even embrace emerging values including non-violent conflict resolution, universal human rights, social and economic justice, ecological sustainability, and interreligious harmony. But the passage is anything but straightforward. The interference of two culture waves unleashes both apparent chaos and emerging order. This dynamic creates the signature turbulence of a sea-change : a profound alteration of cultural values toward a better fit with current realities. Sea-changes are rare—in this book, I identify only four since human prehistory. They are daunting but richly creative periods, with at least three recognizable benchmarks:
•          a dramatic increase in cultural complexity;
•          a growing awareness of the interdependence of all with all; and
•          a variety of new multiperspectival approaches to knowledge and action.
Never easy transitions, such evolutionary shifts in values produce profound inspiration and originality and, at the same time, cultural confusion and identity crisis. And, of course, the widespread emergence of new values and new ways of thinking always threatens established structures of power, thus adding a dangerous intensity to an already-volatile cultural mix.

These values form the nucleus of an emerging consensus that opposes globalization from the top down—the creeping Westernization and Americanization of the planet. The younger wave clearly represents a very different global order, a sort of globalization from the bottom up. Around the world, there is a noticeable shift from ethnocentric to world-centric values.

Each failing cultural dynamic of the older wave—sexism, racism, intolerance, fundamentalism, injustice, eco-abuse, imperialism, or materialism—manifests the essential blindness of ethnocentrism. That pathology is nurtured by the conviction that one’s own group, gender, race, class, nation, species, or way of living is somehow inherently superior to every other.”

For me one of the most useful understandings that come out of this model and his development of it is what he refers to as eddies, very fitting for the water metaphor of waves and for the trauma and danger that eddies present. We are living in a time of great cultural upheaval and social disorientation, we are witnessing a great deal of retrograde motion, with many pining for the way things were in a desire “to make X great again”. Driven by fear and identity politics there is a great deal of backlash, overturning of settled law and all kinds of violence precipitated by fear and outrage. These are some of the eddies of which he speaks. When one can take a drone’s view of the river and its inevitable downstream motion, these eddies are seen for what they are, temporary retrograde motion against the current that is ultimately futile. When actually in such a river one does all that one can to avoid being drawn into these eddies for the danger of such maelstroms include broken limbs and drowning. They certainly need to be regarded with caution and respect, but in the grand scheme of things the river moves on.

Mr. Kenney writes “as the influence of the older wave declines in the rise of the next sea-change becomes more evident, eddies form... As older certainties face new evolutionary energies, eddies appear — the vortices of resistance to change. Some of the most disturbing cultural patterns of our age belong neither to the older or the newer wave. Fundamentalism, fascism, greed, and hegemony, for example, are eddies — manifestations of the turbulent interaction of the two value waves.”

Seeing this larger, much larger view we can let go of some of the fear rising in us as we witness abhorrent behaviors and trends as well as the highly polarized and strident voices competing for attention. Indeed it does appear often enough that the hard won gains of the last sixty years in racial equality, environmental protection and economic justice are eroded. Divisive language and tactics result in a nasty identity politics and while the last presidential election was as partisan as any since the days of the Vietnam War, almost as many people did not vote as did.

Mr. Kenney proposes that “… this is one of those rare times in world history where old values and beliefs give way to new values and beliefs; that we are in the midst of what I call a sea-change . To understand this premise, let’s examine its four foundations: interdependence, paradigm shift, cultural evolution, and the emerging global consensus of values.” Further illuminating this idea he entertains the question “Just Changing . . . or Evolving?” and provides this answer “The sea-change lens offers us a panoramic view of the schizophrenic character of rapidly changing modern life. It reveals that cultures do indeed evolve and generates powerful new insights into the whys and hows of that evolution. Cultural evolution refers to a progressive movement of key human values toward a better fit with observed reality. Human observation of reality becomes more accurate and insightful. As a result, our conscious experience of the world grows clearer and our values tend to change accordingly. Cultural evolution is usually slow and fairly steady, but not always. Exceedingly rare periods—separated by intervals of several thousand to several hundred years—are marked by explosive growth in human understanding. Such world-shaking spans witness astonishing transformations of the value complexes that shape civilization.”

Mr. Kenney goes into great detail about what he has designated as “cultural sea-changes” and emphasizes that these major turning points are indeed rare, and as he sees it there are only four up to and including the one we are witnessing now. First there was the rise of agriculture with its establishment of permanent settlements, higher levels of complexity both in terms of social cooperation and the technical tasks involved in supporting these developments. Then there is what is termed the “axial age”, a period of around 100 years centering on the sixth century BC. In this relatively short period of time most of the world’s major religions were born or significantly altered through the agency of major spiritual teachers. Richard Tarnas author of Cosmos and Psyche makes this observation about the Axial Age: "This was the age of Buddha, bringing the birth of Buddhism in India; of Mahavira and the birth of Jainism in India; of Lao-Tzu and the birth of Taoism in China, which was followed a decade later by the birth of Confucius, Lao-Tzu’s younger contemporary. This same epoch coincided with that sudden wave of major prophets in ancient Israel—Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Second Isaiah...n this same era the Hebrew Scriptures were first compiled and redacted. The traditional dating for the immensely influential Zoroaster and the birth of Zoroastrianism in Persia. In Greece, the period... coincided with the birth of Greek philosophy itself, as the first Greek philosophers, Thales and Anaximander, flourished during these decades of the 580s through the 560s, and Pythagoras, towering figure in the history of both Western philosophy and science, was born. In Greek religion, Orphism was emerging and the oracle of Delphi was at the height of its influence."

Mr. Kenney refers to the third sea-change  as “Copernicus’s Planetquake” and points out that “the three most familiar manifestations of the last sea-change  prior to our own were the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution. But we often associate the entire crossing with the vision of a single man. In 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus published his masterwork, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, and the world was about to change. The emergence of a sun centered model of the cosmos was profound, literally revolutionary and indeed a dangerous position to advocate.”

In discussing this third sea-change  Mr. Kenney makes extensive references to T. S. Kuhn’s seminal work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and in particular to Kuhn’s understanding of the role of anomalies in generating alternative explanations to the models that no longer fit reality as we understand it. This is one of those areas where I was tempted to give you much more detail than is appropriate in a book review because this Kuhn’s book, which I was introduced to in my college days in the 1970s, continues to reverberate through my understanding of how the world works.

I’ve been working on this review off and on for over a month now, in each fresh attempt I’ve had to carve off major chunks of what I found truly important and had a desire to share, but the truth is that the first couple of drafts were essentially a Reader’s Digest Condensed version of the original book. I certainly do not want to give you enough information that you no longer feel the need to read the book, and so I’ll just cursorily list some of the other elements that Mr. Kenney drew upon to make and extend his argument.

Among the tantalizing concepts he explores in supporting his central themes are: “complexity: the evolution of consciousness; chaos to order: how open systems advance; creativity: bottom-up, self-organizing, emergent forms; and cooperation: interdependence as evolutionary touchstone.”  In discussing complexity Mr. Kenney aptly notes that "Complexity does not mean complication. A jumbled pile of orchestral instruments is complicated. The performance of a symphony is an example of organized complexity.” In discussing chaos to order he relies upon the writings of such luminaries as Stuart Kauffman and James Gleick. Having studied chaos theory in some depth I feel compelled to note that the everyday use of the word “chaos” is rather different from the technical, mathematical understandings of this science, often associated with the phrase “dynamical systems”. It is a sophisticated understanding of how just a few elements in simple relationships can evolve into very complex structures and systems. Here is a bit of amplification on Mr. Kenney’s understanding of cooperation: "Non-Zero-Sum Games. This theme is emblematic of the sea-change concept, demonstrating that our evolution tends toward cooperation and interdependence rather than endless competitions involving winners and losers. Cultural evolution favors non-zero-sum behaviors (cooperative win-win or lose-lose interactions) over zero-sum (win-lose) social patterns. "

Another important chapter looks at the thought of American philosopher Ken Wilber and his widely studied conceptual framework: the Four Quadrants, an Integral Approach to Knowing. This model describes four essential realms of human knowledge and endeavor, the four are divided into two hemispheres, where two are concerned with the individual, in both their interior and exterior dimensions, and two address the collective, in its interior and exterior dimensions. This seemingly simple model can be elaborated into a rather detailed diagram of almost any human phenomenon one can imagine. Just enter “four quadrants” into your search engine and specify that you want to see images to verify this. Wilber is among the most revered and prolific thinkers of our times.

All in all taking on this book review has been a daunting task, but entirely worthwhile if it inspires you to pick it up and share its insights with those around you. Mr. Kenney ends this book with a discussion of Joseph Campbell’s notion of the great stories. Campbell maintained that the great stories “have at least four basic functions. 1) They orient us within our cosmos and disclose the mysteries of nature and of the times and spaces within which life unfolds. 2) They ground us in our social nexus, reminding us of the protocols, the limits, and the values that make our place and our time unique. 3) They aid us in the passages from one life stage to the next, recalling those first humans who walked the same path from birth into this world to birth into the next. 4) They arouse in us a sense of wonder, an awareness of the divinely mysterious character of all existence.”

Mr. Kenney concludes “That’s why I find cultural evolution so empowering. It’s a story that needs telling, and it’s beginning to be told in a variety of powerful ways by committed and persuasive teachers around the world. The new story is especially urgent in a time of sea-change, one of the very rare periods of a potential evolutionary quantum leap. If the story of the evolution of human values over time is worth telling to the children around every campfire, how much more important is the story of an extraordinary time of crossing? And who needs to hear it more than those who are trying to thrive in a crosscurrent they may not understand?” Who indeed?
 
Kenney, James. Thriving in the Crosscurrent: Clarity and Hope in a Time of Cultural Sea-change. Quest Books. Also available in a Kindle Edition.

“So that we might be illuminated, to be called to significant action so that what may seem to be a tragedy to some can become a triumph to the rest of the world”.

These were the closing words of Rev. Dr. Kylon Middleton, Pastor, Mt. Zion AME Chapel, Charleston, SC and keynote speaker at Unified Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort’s third annual Mother Emanuel Nine Memorial on June 15th, 2018. His rousing sermon in this interfaith event at the historic Brick Baptist Church, adjacent to Penn Center, honored those nine slain souls, and very personally that of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, his lifelong friend and pastoral colleague. To see his sermon click on the image above. Rev. Middleton went well beyond that though, furthering UICC’s goal of transcending the pain, of not being bound by the past, with a fervent desire to give meaning to the suffering we have sustained in the loss of so many to violence.

UICC was founded by Rev. Jeannine Smalls, Pastor Grace Chapel AME Church, in response to that tragic event in 2015 at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. From the beginning she felt that it was important that this tragedy unite us, transcending the barriers among denominations and between faiths, knowing that our faith communities share a common humanity, a desire for justice and a hunger for peace. Her longtime friend and spiritual brother Rev. Middleton spoke of this very eloquently “We are stronger together because of our faith, we are stronger when we stand as Baptists, and we are stronger when we stand as AME, we are stronger when we stand as Jews, we are stronger when we stand in the Baha’i faith, we are strong when we acknowledge our Unitarian Universalism, we are strong when we’re Islamic, we are strong when we stand up to be Episcopalians, especially in South Carolina in 2018, we are strong when we are Lutheran, we’re strong in our Presbyterianism, we are strong as non-denominationalists, we are strong as Catholics, so we are stronger in our faith together! It is larger than one church, it is larger than one denomination, is larger than one faith, it is about our human community.”

Rev. Smalls in her introduction for Rev. Middleton quoted Martin Luther King “…the most segregated hour in Christian America is 11 AM on a Sunday morning”. The interfaith work of UICC has as a key goal of the change to this “appalling” situation. It is common for events like these to be held on a Friday evening when many people are able to come, and appropriate venues are available. We are deeply grateful to Rev. Dr. Abraham Murray, pastor of the Brick Baptist Church for hosting this important event and for his gracious welcome in his opening remarks. Several of the most dedicated and hardworking members of our organization are members of the Jewish faith and we recognize that it is a hardship, and somewhat insensitive of us to hold these events on their Shabbat. In keeping with who we are and what we are about, it was the first time a Shabbat candle was lit in this august sanctuary. Rabbi TZiPi Radonsky of Watering the Tree Outside the Fence Foundation lit the candle and offered a prayer, closing with a reading from Numbers 6:23-27.

A number of segments of the evening were beautifully woven together with the music of choirs and Emma Stevenson of Rev. Murray’s congregation as soloist. “Aunt Emma” is the aunt of both Rev. Pinckney and Rev. Middleton. Rev. Penny Rahm of Waters Edge United Methodist, had written words reflecting our theme to go with the tune “we shall overcome” which she led a jubilant congregation through. Mostly behind the scenes though absolutely essential to the success of this event was Rev. Shannon Mullen, Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran. There was a slideshow honoring The Mother Emanuel Nine which was shown while one by one individuals in the congregation stood and spoke loudly the name of one of those nine followed by a hallowed chime from Rev. Lori Hlaban, of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, as she conducted the remembrance portion. Theresa White of the Pan-African Family Empowerment and Land Preservation Network spoke to us about the history of Juneteenth and related a number of stories from her family history that brought it home to us all. Members of IPSC, Interfaith Partners of South Carolina, traveled down Columbia to attend including Dr. Adrian Bird, Carey Murphy, and Ethel Crawford. Rev. Roy Tripp of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church offered the closing Benediction.  

Our second keynote speaker was Victoria Smalls who currently serves as Commissioner, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and program director for the International African American Museum being built in Charleston South Carolina. Ms. Smalls served a number of years as director of History, Art an Culture programs at Penn Center and also serves everywhere she lives on Baha’i Local Spiritual Assemblies. As Ms. Smalls grew up on St. Helena Island and still had a lot of family living there she was able to offer a unique perspective. Her talk was informative, as she is an historian at heart, inspiring, and she ended with relevant quotes from her Baha’i scriptures. One point in particular that she made is that Penn Center was one of the very few places that Dr. Martin Luther King felt safe, and perhaps the only place where blacks and whites were able to sit down, speak and plan together, during the very segregated 1960s. Many of his most famous speeches were written here and shared with those who accompanied him. At the time of his death plans were in the works to build him a cottage on the marsh on the eastern edge of Penn Center where he could rest and find peace.

Our theme, “We Remember and We Do Not Forget” was suggested by Rabbi TZiPi Radonsky at one of our early planning meetings for this event. She shared with us that in her Jewish faith this phrase “We Remember and We Do Not Forget” is part of her weekly spiritual practice. That it is important to review and remember the blessings and challenges of the past week on the Sabbath and to remind one of the blessings and opportunities to come in the following week. She had a vision that this practice could be extended further back in time and further into the future in the context of this memorial service. One component of the evening was a slideshow where this phrase appeared and was followed by an image reminding us of many of the painful tragedies that somehow unite us. The images included scenes from more than a dozen of the mass shootings of the past few decades, atrocities committed at Jewish concentration camps, numerous slain martyrs to beloved causes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Harvey Milk, and others, slaughters of Native Americans at Wounded Knee, the Cherokee Trail of tears, the Japanese internment camps and most especially the assassinated Mother Emanuel Nine. It ended with these words “We Remember Those We Have Lost To Violence, And We Do Not Forget Our Commitment To Peace”.
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Rev. Smalls has carried the conviction that these tragedies might unite us and give us hope for the future, that our shared understanding and efforts will eventually make such things impossible. Just this morning as I was thinking through all of this in order to write this blog post a friend of mine shared with me this quote from the Talmud “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” People become martyrs when they are assassinated to prevent them from bringing to completion their life work, and though their deaths are a sadness to us they are most clearly a call to complete their labors.