[vc_row el_class=”olive-branch-bg-r”][vc_column][vc_column_text]I live as an interreligious community-builder. \u00a0What this means is that I bring together diverse communities of faith and\/or practice in various locations around the continent. \u00a0The groups are multi-leveled, too, designed to reflect not just religious difference, but racial, economic, and ethnic differences. I work with them on a three-year program teaching dialogue and communication skills, designing welcoming and meaningful gatherings in each of their sacred spaces, facilitating a common set of values and vision. I currently run programs in New Haven, CT, Stamford, CT, and Toronto, Canada.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section el_class=”post-quote”][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566306295282{background-image: url(https:\/\/ravenfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/0c0caab3a0b06f49d1f4e4069f7acecc-e1562958862845.jpg?id=19638) !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”quote”]Our interreligious micro-communities are about weaving the fabric of non-violence in pockets of peace dotted about the world.\u00a0<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]My work is intense, complex, and insanely personally rewarding. \u00a0I do not hold typical interfaith educational events; I build mini-movements. \u00a0Our interreligious micro-communities are about weaving the fabric of non-violence in pockets of peace dotted about the world.<\/p>\n

Whenever asked about why these pockets will make a difference – can they make a real <\/em>impact? – I quote the essential work of Dr. Ashutosh Varshney, Brown professor and author of Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India<\/em> (Yale 2002). \u00a0The answer is yes. \u00a0Dr. Varshney\u2019s research supported one main finding, that towns and cities that have groups meeting regularly across difference are able to quell incidents of violence swiftly and quickly; and this stands in contrast to cities where segregation is standard, in which single acts of violence almost inevitably erupt into further exacerbation. \u00a0Especially today– right<\/em> now<\/em>— when rioting has arisen to express deep feelings of social unrest and injustice, one can feel the sore lack of the kind of relationships and trust community-building offers.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_single_image image=”20541″ img_size=”600×800″ alignment=”right”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566393555121{background-color: #f6ebdf !important;}” el_class=”optin”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Therefore, even in the midst of a pandemic, community-building across difference is essential\u00a0<\/em>work. \u00a0And we are, if you will, essential\u00a0workers.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_single_image image=”20543″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]Given, though, that the virus effected the shut-down of all houses of worship and\u00a0<\/em>prohibited gatherings, our work could have easily been stopped dead in its tracks.<\/p>\n

But each of the three cities engaged in the interreligious communities building project sensed their own essential work. \u00a0They were eager to continue the work – as different as it would be – through the video camera. \u00a0Indeed, at times, they\u00a0<\/em>have been the ones leading me\u00a0<\/em>forward. \u00a0<\/em>To my delight we even get to launch a new city \u2014 Toronto, Canada \u2014 in this strange apocalyptic context we are living through.<\/p>\n

As I see it, the invisible virus is our new common enemy. \u00a0But it is sadly being used by partisans not to unite us, but to highlight the sustained divisions and disagreements between us. \u00a0In this political war of all against all, there have been so many scapegoats including the unmasked jogger, the black jogger, the Chinese, the group of teens hanging out on the beach, the Westchester elites, Jews at a funeral, the evangelicals at their Sunday worship, the WHO, Dr. Fauci, or Donald Trump.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]In the act of social distancing, there is a real chance we will lose sight of our human interconnectedness.\u00a0 And where interconnectedness on a physical level becomes so taboo, it becomes too easy to fall into spiritual disconnectedness.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”olive-branch-bg-l”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text]But the good news is our mini-movements are alive and well. \u00a0The social fabric of non-violence and positive mimesis continues to be sown throughout our three main cities; we continue to \u201cde-silo\u201d and build diverse micro-communities of belonging, trust, and positive mimetic interference and influence. \u00a0I truly hope that more cities like Toronto come on board during this unlikely and unusual time.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let the virus divide us. \u00a0More than ever, try to stay connected. \u00a0Maintain practices to remain interconnected, too. \u00a0 And please write to me<\/a> if you\u2019d like to build an interreligious micro-community.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest author Vanessa Avery explains her role as an interreligious community-builder and how communities can be built during this pandemic. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":20540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4328,14],"tags":[4403,76,658,99,2030,72,4402],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n