Why I can't wait for Interfaith REPAIR

And why I hope to see you there!

As a Mormon kid in the Mormon suburbs of Salt Lake City in the 1990s, interfaith engagement didn’t feature prominently in my teenage experience. In high school I had one Catholic friend and a few Jewish acquaintances, but my world was overwhelmingly and comfortably Mormon.

That changed when I went on my LDS mission. I’m grateful it was a two year experience. For roughly the first year, I was very much a student of the “Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach” school. By the time the second half of my mission rolled around, and it became painfully apparent that I would not in fact baptize the entirety of the Seattle metropolitan area, I got more curious. As it turned out, I liked talking about religion, and hearing what other people thought about it. A funny thing happened: when I opened my ears at least as much as my mouth, I learned a lot.

Since then, my life has taken me to some unexpected places. To the University of Notre Dame for graduate school, where I was surrounded by Catholic and evangelical professors and fellow students, and where my neighbor and good friend was the scion of generations of Jerusalem rabbis. To Egypt for my first real job as a professor, where my best students were veiled Muslim women. To Romania for a Fulbright fellowship, where I came to appreciate the ancient mysteries of Christian Orthodoxy. And to southern California, where the prevailing religion was secularism and one of my best friends was one of the nation’s most outspoken atheists.

I have certainly had tutors in peacemaking from my own church. Eugene England had a huge influence on me; President Russell M. Nelson helped anchor my convictions; and Chad Ford is my hero.

Yet I would be impoverished as an aspiring peacebuilder if my learning was restricted just to the little plot of the garden that I personally feel called to tend. My peacebuilding vocation has been radically transformed by a Black Protestant pastor; a Vietnamese Buddhist monk; a Mennonite Bible scholar; a Hindu sage; and many, many others.

That is why I am so excited for Interfaith REPAIR. We organized this day-long training not as an exercise in interfaith dialogue — though dialogue is important. Instead, we know that each of the world’s diverse faith traditions contains deep reservoirs of wisdom about how to build peace — in your soul, your personal relationships, your congregations, and your communities.

We have assembled an all-star list of religious practitioners and leaders to lead an amazing array of workshops. Crucially, we asked them not to give a “Hinduism 101” or “Islam 101” class — there are plenty of other places where you can learn that important basic information. Instead, we asked them to reach deep into their tradition and bring forward the distinctive teachings, rituals, and practices that enhance greater peace, and then teach those concepts in such a way that workshop participants who are not affiliated with that religion can learn and apply those teachings to be more effective peacebuilders in their distinctive spheres.

I will express one disappointment I have in the program we put together: I honestly want to take every single workshop, and will have to make some hard choices. I imagine that when you look at the menu of options you’ll feel the same way.

I often come back to the teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh: “If we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace.” I believe the practice of peace is downstream from learning about core principles of peace and developing the character of peace. If you want to find greater peace in your own life, and/or to share greater peace in the part of the garden you feel called to tend, Interfaith REPAIR is for you.

Bring a friend, and I’ll see you there!