Event report: In search of a shared sacred

Last month, scholars from Divinity and Education joined Dr Bill Vendley, former Secretary General of Religions for Peace, in pursuit of a shared sacred. Over the course of 90 minutes, the panelists discussed the challenge of finding a shared language to articulate what matters most, and the significance of storytelling as a mode of understanding self and other.

The discussion was introduced by Esra Özyürek, Sultan Qaboos Professor of Abrahamic Faiths and Shared Values, who highlighted the need to seek out alternative ways of being and doing in the face of heightened inequality and ecological violence. Farah Jassat, Head of Media at the University of Cambridge, chaired the discussion.

“I know what you mean. I’d say it differently.”

At the chair’s invitation, speakers began by offering a short definition of “the sacred”—layering insights about wholeness/holiness, interaction that resists finite description, a presence or pulse that may feel both internal and external. From there, the discussion covered the need to find a common language, the relationship between art and storytelling and experiences of suffering, and how tragedy functions to show us truths we might otherwise resist.

The book, Retelling Sacred Stories, formed an anchor point for the discussion. Vendley spoke about how the Fetzer Institute’s project had challenged scholars from different religious and spiritual traditions to tell their sacred story in a contemporary way.  Those efforts served as groundwork for a shared story. There is a risk of reduction inherent in the task, and the Cambridge panel encouraged other readers to engage with the rich diversity of the volume and journey between the different traditions.

Additional perspectives

From the audience Zain, another contributor to Retelling Sacred Stories, noted that using literature to engage what is holy is a risky enterprise. It is a risk worth taking because art has the power to (re)generate solidarities. 

As Q&A opened, Vendley and others highlighted how public and intergovernmental spaces tend to limit what can be said about the values that drive us—estranging policy from love, compassion and courage.

Concerns were shared regarding the depreciation of arts in education and the trap of treating traditions as fixed when they are always unfolding. Audience members also shared personal experiences about encountering the sacred in rivers and trees, and observed that non-religious actors are increasingly creating rites that show the ongoing social significance of story and meaning making.

The core discussion is available to watch again (below and via YouTube).

Copies of Retelling Sacred Stories are also available on request (collection from the Faculty of Divinity). See the links below for more information.