As I mentioned in my sermon last week, recently I was contacted by representatives of the Dialogue institute of Dallas. The goal of this organization is to promote mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among people of diverse faiths and cultures by creating opportunities for direct communication and meaningful experiences. Those who are members have a vision of a society where every person views and treats each other with dignity. This is such an important vision for our world today for so many reasons. I was pleased to welcome Emrah Aktepe, who is the Executive Director, and his colleague, Yusuf Tamer, to St. Thomas on April 25th for a time of conversation and a tour of our church. It was during this conversation that Emrah and Yusuf explained that Ramadan is coming up which is a month-long period of fasting, prayer, reflection and good works for Muslims. The period of fasting…
