The Faith Divide: Interfaith Dialogue on the High Seas

Interfaith Dialogue on the High Seas

Today's guest blogger is Nathan Render, an undergraduate at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He is a former Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) intern, member of IFYC's Chicago Youth Council, and a participant on the Chicago leg of IFYC and Jordan Interfaith Action's InterACTION Youth Exchange between Amman and Chicago. He spent his previous spring semester with Semester at Sea, which took him around the world.

Last semester, I had the tremendous honor and privilege of circumnavigating the world on a ship. With over a thousand students, staff, professors, and crew, most of whom I had never met before, I embarked on an adventure experiencing cultures and places I had only previously read or dreamed about.

From the beginning, I knew my semester would abound with intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and I was excited at the prospect of continuing to explore my passion for interfaith organizing abroad. I assumed the dialogue would predominantly take place between my shipboard peers and the fascinating people we met as we traveled - and it did. On Shabbat in Brazil, we befriended a Muslim man who showed us where the city's only synagogue was located, so we could attend services. In Mauritius, we learned about genuine interfaith friendship from Ahmad, our Muslim taxi driver, who was taking off work the next day to march with his Hindu best friend in a yearly pilgrimage festival. And in Japan, my homestay family opened their hearts and home to me, as we spent hours talking about the similarities and differences between my Jewish and their Shinto roots.

However, I misjudged how ripe the opportunities would be for deep and meaningful dialogue with my peers on the ship. Being at sea for long stretches - stretches of sometimes a week or more, with minimal external distractions - left us with abundant free time. Furthermore, I was lucky to be enveloped in a shipboard community of people who were vastly different than I, many of whom I found shared a genuine interest in dialogue. Rather than my experience at a private East Coast university, my living experience on the ship was more representative of the profound patchwork of people that makes up America, and while there's important value to both experiences, I was thrilled to take time away from the comforts and familiarity of home.

The dynamic community cultivated ample opportunities, both formal and informal, for us to talk and learn each others' stories. Through these conversations, we gained respect for one another, developed positive long lasting relationships, and found ways to pool our efforts towards curbing the poverty and destruction we encountered on our journey.

Midway through the voyage, a group of my friends invited me to attend their weekly bible study. Earlier in the week, we had stayed up almost all night comparing and contrasting our Jewish and Christian experiences growing up in America. The group had been meeting since we departed a few months earlier and attracted close to a hundred students each meeting - not something I was used to seeing at home. I was honored to be invited and excited all day leading up to it.

I sat nervously next to my friend Hope, as if this was my first interfaith experience. Not knowing what to expect, it felt different than anything I had attended, but I was quickly put at ease when the session began with the singing of a few Christian hymns and pop songs - similar to the Jewish ones I had learned in youth group. I was immediately struck by the emotional intensity and spiritual devotion my friends expressed as they sang.

Next my friend Zach began with a quote about faith from the New Testament. He proceeded to ask us what faith meant to us, how it played a role in our lives, and if we had any stories of faith that we felt inclined to share. The conversation flowed organically, and I was continually inspired by what was said. I recognized many of the stories that were shared from the Old Testament, like the story of Isaac's birth to Sarah, who thought she was too old to bear children.

I was so profoundly inspired by that hour I spent deeply engaged in a conversation about faith with my Christian peers. All assumptions I had previously made about bible studies were absolved in a split second. It didn't matter at all that my heritage was different than theirs, and they welcomed me with open arms. I was particularly moved by their intentional and concerted attempt to understand and acknowledge their relationship with and devotion to God, something I believe Jews, particularly young Jews, shy away from. I was motivated to bring this piece of my journey home with me and incorporate it in Jewish life at school.

The content of this blog reflects the views of its author and does not necessarily reflect the views of either Eboo Patel or the Interfaith Youth Core.

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Interfaith Dialogue on the High Seas

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