Friendship & Faith: A Book By The Women Of WISDOM

If you look back in time, you will find that many ancient cultures and communities were matriarchal societies. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Women by nature are nurturing, self-giving, compassionate, and community oriented. Men have strong leadership qualities, however, ego, dominance, and the “alpha male syndrome” often blind them. This is not true for all men and women, but on the whole, I believe this to be quite accurate.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not believe that women should rule the world. And I don’t believe that men should rule the world either. I do not believe that there is a dominant sex. Gender does not define a person’s capabilities, or their character. However, I do believe that women have some wonderful abilities that should be utilized more in peace building and interfaith efforts.

Want to learn more? There is a wonderful new book by a Michigan-based women’s interfaith group that talks about exactly that.

Friendship & Faith: The WISDOM of Women Creating Alliances For Peace is a brand new book that tells the story of a group of religiously diverse women from Ann-Arbor, Michigan who dared to cross cultural and religious boundaries, and discovered a powerful friendship. Ann-Arbor natives Sarah Fowlkes and Stefanie DeHart, juniors at the University of Michigan and Kalamazoo College respectively, helped co-author the book. The book chronicles the challenges of preserving a friendship across religious and cultural boundaries, and serves as a guide for those taking the first step. Friendship & Faith celebrates the power of women while demonstrating their importance in the realm of religion, peace, and spirituality.

The book was inspired by the true-life stories of the women of the Women’s Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro Detroit (WISDOM). WISDOM began when four women of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian backgrounds met at an interfaith event in 2006 and forged a friendship. With tensions in the Middle East, Iraq, and Darfur rising, the women feared that faith communities in Southeast Michigan were becoming polarized. The women saw an opportunity to help build bridges of understanding and friendship between the faiths. They recognized that women had the ability to and capacity for empathy, compassion, and connecting spiritually. Since then, WISDOM has been helping women in the area build friendships across the invisible boundaries of faith by organizing community events as opportunities for dialogue.

In January 2009, the idea for Friendship & Faith was born. Fourteen WISDOM leaders were gathered at a retreat when they decided to create a book of stories about interfaith friendships. Over the following year, dozens of religiously diverse women shared their experiences and were interviewed by a group of religiously diverse writers.

Friendship & Faith was published by Read the Spirit Books and is available for purchase at Amazon.

Website: www.readthespirit.com/friendship-and-faith-book/