The Power of Interfaith Inclusion
At the Annual Religious Freedom and Business Foundations, Faith at Work - Dare to Overcome Conference held in Washington, DC., a camera lens captured a glimpse of interfaith inclusion. When space is created for interactions like this, our world becomes just a little bit more welcoming and full of belonging.
The subjects in the photos are part of American Airlines Faith EBRG's (Employee Business Resource Group) and were attendees of the conference. During the event, these members were named the number one Faith Friendly Fortune 500 Corporation in the world as calculated by the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation’s REDI-Index (Religious Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Index).
As the participants made their way to the awards dinner, Father Greg McBrayer, a bi-vocational priest, Chief Flight Dispatcher, chaplain, and Christian EBRG leader at American Airlines, was informed that it was the birthday of a colleague, Soniya Hiremath, who was president of the Indian EBRG at American Airlines and a practicing Hindu.
Hearing this news, Father Greg asked Soniya if he could offer a birthday prayer and blessing, as he does for all parishioners he serves in his Fort Worth, TX parish. Father Greg was surprised and delighted that Soniya was very happy to receive a prayer and blessing.
As fate would have it, someone in the area who witnessed the entire event captured this captivating photo. It’s not every day that one sees a bi-vocational ACNA priest offering a birthday blessing for his Hindu colleague surrounded by American Airlines colleagues at an interfaith conference on a Catholic university campus!
Once inside the event hall, Brian Grim, the President of RFBF, arbitrarily asked Soniya if she would consider giving an interfaith prayer before dinner began. This was a highly unusual request for a practicing Hindu woman, who had never been tasked with anything from a faith-based perspective. Later, she revealed she was terrified and taken off guard. Still, she offered a beautiful, authentic blessing!
What is unseen in these powerful photos is the conversation between Soniya and Father Greg when she returned to the table after delivering her first and only public prayer before hundreds of people. As Father Greg commended Soniya, she shared that it was the prayer and blessing he provided which enabled her to say YES to something far outside the norm of her faith, culture, and comfort zone.
That is the power of interfaith inclusion which brings down silos of misunderstanding, hatred, and prejudice! That is the power of interfaith prayer in a world where people are longing for belonging!
Interfaith prayer enables us to be agents of change in a world that desperately needs it!