We have an opportunity for a 'better, new normal'

Eboo Patel, Founder and President, IFYC
March 27, 2020

How do we support each other in this “new normal?” This was one of many questions that IFYC’s founder and president, Eboo Patel, discussed in our March 26 webinar about interfaith work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Faculty, chaplains, co-curricular staff, and community members all gathered virtually to discuss with Eboo their questions of concern, their feelings of uncertainty, and their spaces of hope during this unprecedented time. As campuses across the country grapple with the impact of this pandemic, Eboo offered practical examples of campus transformation and sources of inspiration and solace from his own Muslim faith. To view the recording, please click below. You can check out the complete list of resources mentioned in the webinar in the following list: 

 

Inspiration:  

Books, Blogs and Articles:

Recommended resources from participants for this moment: 

Poetry: 

“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.”
- Rumi, 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic

“I am a stranger
learning to worship the strangers
around me"


- selected line from These Poems by June Jordan

“We are each other’s harvest:
we are each other’s
business:
we are each other’s
magnitude and bond.”


- selected lines from Paul Robeson by Gwendolyn Brooks

“Let him say there was
a burst of fragrance
from black branches.”


- selected lines from Love Song by William Carlos Williams

If you are looking for a way to become an interfaith leader, work for racial equity and build bridges, please check out our free curriculum "We Are Each Other's" and start your interfaith leadership today. 

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The opinions contained in this piece are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Interfaith Youth Core. Interfaith America encourages a wide range of views and strives to maintain a respectful tone with a goal of greater understanding and cooperation between people of different faiths, worldviews, and traditions.