(no subject)

Peterborough is a pretty small town. I guess I'm used to moderate-sized, multicultural cities (i.e., Ottawa) and liberal university environments, so I'm frequently surprised by the conservative-bordering-on-narrow-minded attitudes that I encounter here. There needs to be an adverb before "encounter" in that last sentence that falls somewhere between "occasionally" and "regularly," but I couldn't think of one. My point being that not everyone here is narrow-minded, but more people are than what I'm accustomed to.

I had choir rehearsal last night, and someone handed me a pamphlet about an "Abraham Festival." It was clearly about something religious, and I'm not terribly religious, but I had a few minutes to kill before we got started so I read it anyway. This is part of what it said:

What is the Abraham Festival?
This is a gathering of spiritual descendants of Abraham of the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur'an. We are Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Peterborough, and have been meeting in a spirit of joy and wonder as we explore our similarities and differences. It has been described as rediscovering our spiritual cousins.

Mission Statement:
To take serious steps toward the peace that our traditions demand of us through continued learning and dialogue by:
* Growing grass-roots relationships among those who have been strangers
* Listening and learning from each other's traditions
* Opening our hearts to each other's perspectives
* Supporting each other as extended family members
* Celebrating commonalities
* Providing a model of tolerance for the great community

Colour me impressed. The world needs more people like these.