Items of interest

with contributions from Lynn Arave, Jennifer Atkins Brown, Merlene Davis

"THE WORLD IS IN A CRISIS, and the answer to that is more spirituality — not from any one religion in particular, but from a variety of faiths and better cooperation. That was one of the ideas espoused by the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable during a panel discussion on 'Interfaith Dialogue in a Time of Crisis'... at the Salt Lake City Library. 'The more we read of other faiths, the more we see the commonalities of each other,' said Jan Saeed of the Bahà'ì faith and leader of the Interfaith Roundtable group. Roger Keller, religious studies chairman at Brigham Young University...agreed. 'I find as I look at other people's faiths I put on new glasses to look at my own faith.' He said there needs to be more venues like this panel discussion to break down barriers between religions. This doesn't diminish one's own religion beliefs. 'We accept each other just like we are,' he said..... He also said the world is too fractured and fragmented for religion to continue to separate people. 'We find much more commonality in spirituality,' he said."

Lynn Arave
 "World needs more spirituality"
Deseret Morning News
February 7, 2004

"'THE BROTHERHOOD.' 'A big family.' These are terms often used to describe fire departments. It also is not uncommon to hear firefighters comment, 'We take care of our own.' For Johnny Davis, a chaplain for the Greensboro Fire Department, taking care of his family away from home goes a step further. It is his job to be there for his fellow brothers and sisters from a spiritual standpoint as well. 'I've seen the Lord work in a lot of people's lives since I started doing this,' Davis said. 'I've seen the Lord help people we thought were not going to make it.' Davis is one of two full-time firefighters who also serve the department as a chaplain — Serving 415 firefighters and 180 retirees, Davis visits co-workers in the hospital or at their homes if they are injured or sick and makes calls to check on them. When needed, he officiates at the funerals of fellow or retired firefighters. He also responds to fire fatalities....

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