I spent this past Sunday at two beautiful interfaith events. The first, a celebration of the ending of Tro i Harmoni, an association for which I’ve been a board member for the last couple of years. I moderated a panel with a Rabbi and an Imam, and we spoke about the difficulties of interfaith work, both collectively and in personal relationships. We explored the question of whether coming to the table with anyone is the right step, or whether there are boundaries to this work. We talked about the different conditions people have in coming to the table, and how these conditions can be both protectors and barriers. We also talked about the alternative to always pointing to the problem, the role of empathy and visionary thinking that can imagine a different way to live. We had music, meditation, food and a presentation of different organizations that continue the work of inclusion and interconnection. It was a beautiful way to honor the work that Tro i Harmoni has done for the last decade.
The second event was also an interfaith event at the Church of Scientology. This included a series of speakers who spoke about their work with interfaith, inclusion, democracy and peace education, etc.
In both events, I ended up on the microphone, the first one moderating the event, including the panel (in Danish!), and the second one as an invited speaker. Both events were uplifting and unifying, highlighting the importance of interfaith work.
And this is where the ‘outward’ part of my post ends. I would also like to share some of my own behind-the-scenes inward journey. Continue reading if that’s interesting to you, otherwise you could stop here 
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I wasn’t always so comfortable on microphones. As a kid I had quite some stage fright. In the 8th grade Passover seder that our class had to lead for the whole school, I had one line: “We eat bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness that our ancestors had to endure while they were in Egypt”. Not only did I memorize it to the death, but I’m sure my close friends from then still remember that line on my behalf. There were a few other incidents of running to the bathroom to procrastinate giving a presentation. Or shakily delivering talks. Or wanting to be in the choir but not being able to stand the pressure of auditioning. A lot of stories that have turned into bedtime stories for my 5 year old
So the fact that I gave an improvised talk at the 2nd event was quite a feat. I challenged myself not to prepare anything and just speak from the heart. I did this last year, and I guess the church of Scientology is a comfortable enough place for me to practice this. I spoke about the need to meet each other’s pain, to be able to do that by meeting our own pain. I spoke about activism as something other than fighting the system. I spoke about the loud voices of power and the quieter movement happening in the background. And I spoke about peace. The peace that will really come to this planet. Imagining, feeling and knowing this, a crazy thing to say at this time.
I spent the previous day with my cacao sisters in a womb healing ceremony, where we connected with our womb centers and the deepest darkest parts of ourselves. Without going into too many details (too late?), I really experienced that it physically hurts not to be myself. Parts of my body are actually in pain from this. All those layers of shame and hiding from being exposed, when in fact all I was hiding is myself and a longing to live in a peaceful and loving world. What a world we live in that you can actually get slammed with critique for speaking this out. I talked about this in the Scientology church – not the womb cacao part 
– but the part where the need to be right and the seizing of power relies on another perspective being shut down. And beyond power, now we’re seeing that in the ‘high levels’, it’s also evil and very dark. And those people up there love to see us fighting among left and right politics, among different religions, different ideologies, we become their soldiers and let them work in the shadows.
But as those people in power come out of the shadows, so do the ones releasing their shame and daring to speak the truth. It’s an amazing combination. The microphones and the behind-the-scenes, working together. The performance being called out. The truth being spoken. Power doesn’t go down easy, so who knows what the next few months will bring. But I’m proud to be one of the many who are getting on the microphones, giving another voice to the peace calling us home.
