Milwaukee Area Interfaith Youth Forum Celebrates Summer with Picnic

It was a fabulous summer day at Wilson Park on August 24, 2003. Fabulous was the weather, and fabulous was the interaction among Jewish, Christian and Muslim teenagers. This fab factor was a result of the good work of the Milwaukee Area Interfaith Youth Forum. Formed as a response to September 11, 2001, they are a group of youth leaders who plan events to "strengthen interfaith understanding in order to reduce misinformation and promote peaceful relationships among all people."

It was a picnic, so of course it included good food, and lots of it. There were also mingle icebreakers and friendly conversation. A softball game and a watermelon-eating contest made it seem like any other picnic at any other park. But a closer look would reveal what made this event special.

First of all, there was the interfaith trivia contest - teams of youth trying to remember details about their friends' religious traditions as they answered questions about Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Next, there were the interfaith parachute activities - which the younger brothers and sisters enjoyed most. In a large circle, the group held onto a parachute and whipped it up and down, as fast as possible, creating a waving, frantic effect. That represented our culture - fast moving, and sometimes out of control. Then we tossed three balls onto the parachute, representing our three religions. It was very hard to keep those three balls over the parachute; it's also hard to keep our religious traditions elevated in today's fast moving and frantic world. When one of the balls was bounced up and away, someone would have to let go of the parachute, go running after the ball, and toss it back. Sometimes it takes special attention to keep our faith where it belongs - front and center.

One of our responsibilities is to pass the faith on to the next generation. "It takes a village to raise a child," and that's what we did - literally. The younger children took turns standing in the middle of the parachute, holding on. When the group brought the parachute down to the ground, then picked it up all together, the child in the middle was lifted off the ground by the power of their arms working in unison. It truly took the whole interfaith community to raise each child.

Most importantly, this picnic was fabulous because it affirmed the fact that we can be united, even though we have different religious beliefs. We are all sons and daughters of Abraham, even though we worship in different ways on different days - Muslims on Fridays, Jews on Saturdays and Christians on Sundays. We all pray, fast, and do works of justice. And we care about our brothers and sisters, even though in some places, adults and even teenagers are killing themselves, and each other, in the name of their religion.

Isaac, one of the youth leaders, said this at the group's initial event: "Here we take it for granted that a group of Jews, Christians and Muslims can get together without hostility. But you know that's not the case in many parts of the world. So for nothing else, we are here today so that our children don't have to grow up in a world as violent as ours and with as much hatred as ours."

That kind of spirit - and a juicy piece of watermelon - will go quite far on a fabulous summer day.