This Sunday, hosted at the gorgeous Sheldon Concert Hall, several foundations and organizations associated with the St. Louis interfaith effort hosted a September 11th Interfaith Memorial. The event was open to the public and brought together musical groups from numerous faith traditions. Each group presented a musical piece that promoted an appreciation for religious diversity, a sense of unity under the American flag, or peace after the 9/11 attacks. The St. Louis Police Department presented the flag and their Pipes and Drums group began the show.
I was brought to tears by several of the performances. Each group put their whole hearts into their music and the message they were presenting. It was inspiring to see the Sheldon full of people from the St. Louis community who supported the idea of using the interfaith themes of peace, love, and hope to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. The Michael and Barbara Newmark Institute for Human Relations at the JCRC was one of the sponsors of the event. It was this connection that caused me to appreciate the event even more. The fact that I have the opportunity to work with an organization that promotes and supports interfaith efforts such as this means a great deal to me.
As we left the Sheldon, a local artist by the name of Lyndsey Scott invited everyone present to participate in an interactive sculpture. The sculpture stood for the religious diversity that is honored in the St. Louis area. Everyone was given a small, yellow ribbon and asked to think about how each of us can embody a greater connection with others in our day to day lives. We were given the opportunity to write our intentions on the ribbon and then each of us tied our ribbon on the sculpture. Inspired by the concert, I wrote simply, "Share love, spread peace."
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