Close to Home: A story of many faiths united as one voice

Concerned about the earthquake-like rift ripping through American society post-election, we invited a diverse group of clergy from around Sonoma County to explore what we could do in response to the divisiveness we are experiencing in our congregations and in society at large. Eighteen rabbis, reverends and pastors shared food and stories about the challenges the election poses for our community. Among the tales told, one stood out in its hopeful outcome.

In late October, the Rev. David Parks-Ramage, the long-time pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Santa Rosa. traveled to eastern Kentucky to help his father care for his dying wife, David’s stepmother, Kathleen. David was understandably focused on his family, but the impending election was also on his mind, and he couldn’t help but reflect on how different eastern Kentucky was from his home in Occidental. As he tells it, “The day after the election as I opened my eyes and stretched to the rising sun (yes, yoga), the thought rose to greet me, ‘We’re not in NorCal anymore.’ Though I was concerned about the election, I also knew that the good people who lived on the neighboring farms and attended the Panola Baptist Church down the hill, were quite pleased with how everything turned out.”

Then Kathleen died and the arrangements for the memorial service naturally fell on him. Having been a pastor for more than 20 years, the landscape was familiar except for one thing: Kathleen was a Buddhist and his father had converted to Islam in the ‘90s. Nevertheless, he gathered his family, friends and neighbors for an interfaith memorial, the likes of which the Panola Baptist Church had never experienced.

“Two minutes before my father was to recite the Muslim call to prayer,” David says, “a family friend confided in me, ‘Bud hates Muslims. We never told him about your dad. We are afraid of what he might do.’ ” Bud was a solid friend. When their horse foundered a few years back it was Bud, a farrier by trade, who nursed Flare back to health. The chairs were lined up, with the Muslims in the second row, the Baptists in the third and the Buddhists here and there. The front row was empty except for Bud.

David continues, “The service began with my father reciting the greatness of God in Arabic. As we read from the Bible and Quran and recited Rumi, as we chanted Buddhist chants, Bud sat motionless, cowboy hat in hand. I spoke a bit and others shared their stories of Kathleen. Bud just squirmed.”

“To close the service we ended with that old evangelical hymn, ‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.’ It was their hymn, so the Baptists started us off, and they were joined by the Muslims, then by the Buddhists, and finally Bud added his voice to the one voice resounding.”

They had gathered in their difference but had found one voice, found themselves woven into the fabric of their simple, shared, humanity. After the service, everyone stayed for dinner. At the end of the memorial, David smiled and said, “Bud came up to me, cowboy hat on, ready to go. He extended his hand and said ‘If there is anything I can do for your father, make sure you ask. I’m here for him.’ ”

At a time when fear and division are the dominant themes in our politics, it is more important than ever to follow Bud’s example and open our hearts to our shared humanity.

On Saturday at 3 p.m., religious communities from all around Sonoma County will gather at the Center for Spiritual Living, 2075 Occidental Road in Santa Rosa, to affirm the harmony of the world’s faiths in promoting universal human dignity with peace, compassion and justice for all. Faith leaders from Jewish, Christian, New Thought, Unitarian Universalist, Buddhist, Sikh and Islamic traditions will offer scriptural readings and reflections, complemented with music and singing.

George Gittleman is rabbi at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa.