Interfaith Prayer in Flagstaff

Interfaith Prayer in Flagstaff

by Laurent Weichberger, May 2010 Flagstaff, Arizona On Thursday morning, May 6, 2010 at the Federated Community Church in Flagstaff, Pastor Jed Schenck invited people of all faiths to come together for the National Day of Prayer, the 5th time to be celebrated with his congregation as hosts.

I believe that Pastor Schenck, and many others are working in alignment with the Divine Will, Meher Baba's Will, towards this peace and harmony among faiths. This year faiths represented included, (but was not limited to): Mormon, Baha'i, Celtic Pagan, Buddhist, Sikh, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Avatar Meher Baba...

Meher Baba said, "I intend bringing together all religions and cults like beads on one string and revitalize them for individual and collective needs. This is my mission to the West. The peace and harmony that I shall talk of and that will settle on the face of this worried world is not far off."[1] When Pastor Schenck had called me the day before the morning prayer gathering (and breakfast for all), he left a voice mail explaining to me that the theme of the morning was that he wished each faith to share for a few moments with those gathered about an important "Symbol" of our faith. After contemplating this for a while, my initial thought was to focus of the "Mastery in Servitude" colophon, which literally contains the symbols of the major world religions, in a circle, with Baba's motto in the middle. But upon deeper contemplation, and asking Baba's guidance, I felt inspired to share with those gathered that the symbol I feel most deeply about Meher Baba, is simply Baba himself with his finger raised to his lips in the classical "Shhh..." (silence) gesture. Undoubtedly, over the years, what seems to impress people about Baba more than just about anything is the fact of his almost 44 years of total silence. So, I researched some quotes of Baba about his silence, and went off to the breakfast prayer gathering the next day.

Meher Baba holding finger up to his lips gesturing Silence.

From http://ambppct.org/gallery/1950-2.php Upon opening the minivan door, and getting my son Cyprus (age 3) out of his car seat onto the sidewalk, he looked up and said, "Dada, is this Baba's church?" To which I replied, "Well, it is Jesus' church, but Baba is here also." Once we got inside, Cyprus didn't want to eat breakfast, he wanted to search the church, saying, "We have to go find Baba." This lasted about 30 minutes as he walked up and down the staircases, opening doors, walking the church halls, and looking inside rooms – asking each person he met, "Where is Baba? I am looking for Baba."

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Then I was called up to the podium for my few minutes of sharing about Meher Baba. I explained first that on July 9, 1925, one of Baba's disciples had said to Baba about his wish to keep silence for one year, that if he kept silent the world would be deprived of his teaching, to which Baba famously replied, "I have come not to teach, but to awaken!" [2] I continued to explain that Meher Baba kept silence from July 10, 1925 until his death January 31, 1969 (almost 44 years), and that instead of explaining that further, I would simply read a few of Baba's own words on the subject, as follows: "Things that are real are given and received in silence." [3] ♥ "External silence helps the inner silence, and only in internal silence is Baba found in profound inner silence." [4] ♥ And after 11 years of silence: "For nearly twelve years no word has passed my lips. Yet I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is my voice – the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. Through those who are receptive to this voice, I speak." [5] ♥ "Real healing is spiritual healing, whereby the soul, becoming free from desires, doubts and hallucinations, enjoys the eternal bliss of God ..."

Someone else inquired, "Will you break your silence during this trip to the West, Baba?"

Baba replied, "God has been everlastingly working in silence, unobserved, unheard, except by those who experience His Infinite Silence. If my silence cannot speak, of what avail would be speeches made by the tongue? The very moment when He thinks my speaking would be heard universally, God will make me break my silence. Most persons suffer because of their karma. A few suffer for others. Masters suffer for the whole universe." Baba ended by spelling out, "God is not to be learned or studied or discussed or argued about. He is to be contemplated, felt, loved and lived." [6] I returned to my sit next to my wife, then we gathered our children and left, even as people thanked me for what they had just received of Baba's expressed wisdom. After the gathering, I received a thank you card from Sherry Golden (a Christian), and a leader of the Shared Earth Network (www.sharedearthnetwork.org) one of the event sponsors, which contained these words of encouragement: "... Thank you for sharing the Meher Baba symbol of silence. I need to remind myself to be quiet more often. Meher Baba is a perfect example of what the Interfaith Prayer Breakfast is all about."

Notes: 1. From Lord Meher p. 1554, copyright (c) 2010 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, MS 414 001, India. All rights reserved.

2. Ibid p. 736.

3. Ibid p. 1932.

4. Ibid p. 2085.

5. Ibid p. 2122.

6. From Lord Meher p. 3783.

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