On May 23rd, our 7th Grade Religious Education class was blessed to play host to their peers from the Tucson Hebrew Academy for our annual Interfaith Service. This year-end tradition is the culmination of the 7th graders’ exploration and discussion of many of the world’s current and historic faith traditions.
The class focused on ancient and contemporary indigenous spiritual practices in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, learning about worship and faith practices of the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) while also studying Indo-Asian spiritual practices such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. In addition to studying sacred texts, the class also experienced the use of chant and music in private and public worship and devotion.
As the program for the service stated, “The class found that it is sometimes easier to talk about being open and accepting of others than it is to actually do it. We know our words are only as trustworthy as our actions. In our time together, we hope that you experience the sacred and find ways to heal yourself, our communities and our world.”
