Threaded Wisdom is an opportunity to foster our interfaith relationships through a sharing of prayers, meditations, and practices from diverse faith traditions—a threading together of wisdom that allows for a greater depth of appreciation and understanding of others’ faith traditions.
Each month, we welcome community members to share words and practices that are related to a particular theme. Submissions can be a prayer, an excerpt from a text, a meditation, or an embodied practice.
Submissions don't necessarily have to be from a particular religious figure or tradition. We welcome shares from texts or individuals outside of a spiritual context who have offered inspiration and insight, which could be a philosopher or even a neuroscientist.
Thank you for joining us as we honor each other and ourselves through this threading together of wisdom.
With gratitude,
Wyoming Interfaith Network
SEPTEMBERS'S THEME: CHALLENGE
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Katrina, a member of the Baha'i faith and WIN Board Chair, offered the following:
"The more difficulties one sees in the world the more perfect one becomes. The more you plow and dig the ground the more fertile it becomes. The more you cut the branches of a tree the higher and stronger it grows. The more you put the gold in the fire the purer it becomes. The more you sharpen the steel by grinding the better it cuts. Therefore, the more sorrows one sees the more perfect one becomes. That is why, in all times, the Prophets of God have had tribulations and difficulties to withstand. The more often the captain of a ship is in the tempest and difficult sailing the greater his knowledge becomes. Therefore, I am happy that you have had great tribulations and difficulties. … Strange it is that I love you and still I am happy that you have sorrows."
Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West
Pastor Janita, from the United Methodist faith, shared these thoughts:
Some of us, of a certain age, remember the summer of 2014 when more than 28 million people from all over the world were asked to accept a challenge. What was the challenge? It has become known as the Ice Bucket Challenge! A challenge that three young men diagnosed with ASL (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as “Lou Gherig’s Disease) launched into the then unsuspecting world of social media. A challenge that in six short weeks revolutionized fundraising, the world over, by raising 115 million dollars in six weeks, which was a 3,500% increase over the ALS Foundation’s usual fundraising efforts.
What was the challenge? To video yourself or have a friend video you dumping a bucket of ice water on your head! Sounds silly…sounds simple…but it was a true challenge for some people, who knew that bucket of ice water was going to be so incredibly cold! They did not want to dump the bucket on their heads, but the challenge was presented and accepted. The ripple effect this simple “challenge” created spanned our globe as the Ice Bucket Challenge literally went viral!
Challenges can be silly, scary, exciting, daunting, humiliating, and even rewarding. What challenges are we facing today, and what innovative solution might be right there waiting for us, if we can only muster up the courage to give it a try!?
So, get your ice water buckets ready! Are you willing to accept this challenge?
Liz, who is a Druid, sent the following:
“Reading fiction doesn’t help us escape the world. It helps us live in it.”
~Tagline for the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast
Working with story, whether fiction, myth, legend, or folktale, helps us process the challenges, past, present, or future, that we face in our lives. It is often easier to talk about these characters and their experiences than it is to talk about ourselves and the world around us. Through story, we can experience vicariously the full spectrum of the human experience, explore all the different ways to respond to hardship, assess the impact of each potential decision we might be called to make, rehearse how to show up as our best selves, how to celebrate, how to heal, how to grieve…
Kim shared the following:
Life throws challenges and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it.
Next month's theme — Wilderness
We want to hear from you! Please feel free to share your words or practices.
Submissions are due by the 15th of each month.
Please use this Google document form to send us your contributions, or email them directly to Kim for inclusion.
