At a time when the forces pulling our world apart often seem to be gathering strength, realistic hope is a precious commodity. Our conviction at Fetzer is that we as a human family can find this hope in the shared message of our great faith traditions.

Over the past two years, we have brought together teams of distinguished scholar-practitioners from nine of the world’s faith traditions to explore the traditions’ deep convergence, and we will be releasing the initial results of their work in 2024.

“Every spiritual journey is a pilgrimage, an exercise in anticipation and hope.” — Image Journal, “Every Breath a Birth”

The closing months of the year often come with mixed emotions. Although this season is typically marketed as joyful and filled with cheer, gratitude, and connection, our lived reality likely resembles something different.

In the midst of the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas, it’s hard to make heads or tails of religion. The situation is complex and multifaceted, with faith playing only a part. But before jumping to the conclusion that humanity would be better off without religion, we must raise a crucial question. How can the underlying source of light within all of the world’s great faith and spiritual traditions be maintained in times of such brutality and darkness? 

An interview with Siniti and Victoria Oneda by Fetzer Institute Program Officer Chelsea Langston Bombino.

And I say the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father.  —Black Elk