No doubt many people in our churches fear that involvement in a dialogue with people of other religions may mean – or lead to – a watering down of one’s own Christian faith. Yet those involved in inter-religious dialogue say it is the opposite. While we may be seeking for common ground (such as emphasizing compassion, peace and love), we know that the dialogue can only be sustained in a meaningful way if it allows differences to be voiced in a respectful, accepting manner. The key to enabling such a dialogue to take place is to get to know one another and build up relationships of trust.
The Queensland Forum for Christians, Jews and Muslims (“the Forum”), on which QCT is represented, has found that music is a great way to share experiences and build relationships. For the second time last week, the Forum joined with the Multi-Faith Centre at Griffith University (Nathan Campus) to host an evening of sacred music from the three Abrahamic faiths under the title of “One G-d [God], many voices”. Approximately one hundred people from the three faith communities (and others, no doubt) listened to the five segments of music and readings with obvious engagement, then filed into the dining room to enjoy the culinary delights presented by the three communities, including that great curry made by Sultan Deen himself.
Zmiryah Jewish Chorshul in Jewish Tartan
Jewish Tartan
Have you ever heard of Jewish tartan? The Zmiryah Jewish Chorshul taught us about that. After presenting some chants in Yiddish the members removed the tartan accessories to don prayer shawls, and we heard a moving rendition of Psalm 19.
As last year the Choir of St George’s Greek Orthodox community in South Brisbane led us through some of the liturgical pieces that are a central part of their services, including a rendition of the Lord’s Prayer. Musica Sacra, a small ensemble that focuses on various types of meditative music, sang a series of Gregorian chants.
Members of Resurrection Lutheran Choir
“Lo how a rose e’er blooming” provided a hint of Christmas, sung a capella in wonderful harmonies by the Lutheran parish choir of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Indooroopilly. They too presented pieces out of the regular liturgy of their services.
Sheikh Ahmed Ghazaleh
Praise and passion
Sheikh Ahmed Ghazaleh concluded the musical part of the evening with a number of polished and very beautiful chants. The first was a sung recitation of the first chapter of the Koran. It was followed by a poem and a number of other pieces about the beauty of God as reflected in Creation – chants of praise, delivered with passion.
Sultan Deen and the curry
What are we left with after an evening like this? Certainly a sense of the richness of our many traditions – and the diversity of cultural expression even within the Christian faith. It also showed us some surprising similarities. All of items delivered were derived from situations of prayer, praise and meditation. Their roots varied, the religions differ. Yet the evening showed how important it is to understand and appreciate of what other religions hold dear and how their followers express those essences with the talents given to them.
