Interfaith Harmony Week - Birmingham, UK - Healing our Broken World

A full house of about 90 people gathered to hear several talks on the topic of ‘Healing our Broken World - The Voice of Faith’, recognising the importance of Interfaith Harmony Week at a time of great challenge, in our troubled world.

Our speakers were: Nila (Hindu) a social worker, Shari (Christian) working with refugees and asylum seekers, Rev Marcia (Christian) a Prison Chaplain working with young adults, and David who outlined the various ways in which we try to bring about positive change in our world.. Finally Reem (Muslim), from Gaza, spoke about the resilience of the people there, and how their faith in God allows so many of them to deal with the terrible reality of having lost everything. One theme in all the talks was the need for us to be healed, in order to become healers ourselves, to find our true value through the love we receive - from God, as a person of faith, or from our family and friends.

There was a time of sharing from the floor, a beautiful song from Julia, prayers from seven different traditions, and then a poignant few minutes of candle-lit silent reflection.

Afterwards, we enjoyed food and refreshments together, making and renewing friendships, and everyone leaving with a positive feeling and hope for the future.