An interfaith couple stands in solidarity with Standing Together at their wedding.
There are those kind and gentle souls who come into our lives unexpectedly offering hope with grace. Several months ago, I (Gwynne Guibord) received a call from Saara inquiring about Standing Together, formally known as CMCG: The Christian-Muslim Consultative Group. Saara, a Muslim, and Andrew, a Christian, were about to be married and wanted to include and acknowledge Standing Together as part of their wedding celebration as a sign and symbol of their union.
As part of the festivities of their special day, they invited guests to create the Peace Dove seen here made out of many pieces of multi-colored broken glass. They then gifted the completed figure to Standing Together. Please see the beautiful letter that was attached which explains the meaning of the Peace Dove, photos of their wedding, and a photo of The Standing Together members receiving of their generous and poignant gift.
The letter speaks for itself. Please read it as a poignant model of the best in our faith traditions magnifying the best in our lives.
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Dear Standing Together,
Thank you for your important work and allowing us to stand with you in solidarity at our wedding as we celebrated our Muslim and Christian backgrounds coming together for unity and peace.
During the wedding, we created a piece of artwork out of broken glass with our guests to celebrate peace, love, and togetherness. We made this dove to give to your organization to celebrate your important work in peacemaking.
This art-form of fused-broken glass comes from our now-shared family tradition and has long been used to bring people together for peace. It was originally inspired by Andrew's grandmother finding beauty in the broken glass windows of her bombed-out church in Germany in WWII and later wanting to make beauty out of brokenness. From her work and others, this art-form has been done by communities all over and with glass gathered from conflicts of every nature. Some of the glass comes from the American South where racial tensions led to broken windows and burned out buildings, some comes from religious conflicts in Ireland, among many other sources.
At our wedding, we had an extremely diverse group of people from different backgrounds. Everyone chose a piece of glass that spoke to them, covered the pieces in foil (wrapping brokenness in love) and then the pieces were soldered together (peace and unity made possible by mutual love and respect). The final dove is not perfect in a classical-sense, it has missing segments, corners, and some unexpected edges, but the truth of its origin and beauty therein is encapsulated in these very imperfections. Such is the value of peace and the ongoing effort to bring our world together, beauty out of brokenness.
We hope our wedding brings more awareness to your group, that this piece strengthens and encourages all within your organizations, and that your work brings Muslims and Christians together.
May love always prevail.
Love,
Saara & Andrew
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Thank You Saara & Andrew from all of us -- You truly touched our hearts!
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