A Remarkable Story

This little book is so much more than it seems. You hold in your hands a remarkable story involving hundreds of people representing different faiths and opposing political views who achieved a peaceful resolution to a difficult situation. But, this was not always a peaceful process. We struggled to find our way to this point with our emotions running strong and our convictions running even stronger.

While the circumstances may not be familiar to you, and the achievement may not seem to be grand, this example reminds us that a strong commitment can surpass all challenges - and that is something that applies to all of our lives.

Our story began in 1923 in the town of Eugene, Oregon where a few lumbermen, a handful of business owners, a farmer, and a music professor gathered together to learn about an organization called Rotary (founded in 1905). In the beginning our membership reflected the business community at that time in Oregon's history. By 1987 women moved from the background to the foreground of the organization and became active members. Our meetings continued to grow, drawing in talented people from all walks of life.

The Eugene Rotary Club soon grew to three-hundred members representing vastly different perspectives. We wanted to open our weekly meetings with invocations that were truly beneficial to all. We tried rotating prayers to honor different faiths. But that system did not benefit those who were not faith focused. We tried leaving out any reference to the Almighty. But that system pulled the reverence out of our meetings; and deeply offended our senior members - some of whom had been opening our meetings in prayer for more than fifty years!

We continued to challenge ourselves with the oath we had taken - to commit our lives to service above self through truth, fairness and goodwill, in a manner that benefits all concerned. It was that oath that brought us together in the first place; and yet it seemed impossible to open our meetings in a reverent manner that not only built goodwill, but truly honored our members and guests alike. Through trial and error, self-examination, apology, reconciliation and determination we found a way to keep that promise. While we are happy to have discovered a system that is working well, it is our larger story that excites us the most.

One week, as our meeting drew to a close amidst the sounds of laughter and clanking forks, our committee gathered around its usual table - six very strong-willed people representing four different faiths and opposing political views all eagerly working together to benefit our community. The room was filled with table after table of unlikely partnerships with equal enthusiasm. Ted Berktold, a clergy member, summed it up beautifully when he asked the question, Where else but in Rotary would you find someone in a collar and someone in a turban working so successfully together on issues such as these?

You may expect to see that scene at an interfaith meeting where people gather to celebrate different faiths. But Rotarians are not drawn together to focus on faith. We are drawn together to contribute valuable services in each of our communities large and small, throughout the nation and around the world.

Our club members have found that standing up, closing our eyes and opening our meetings with reverence helps us to move aside our personal concerns and focus on our greater mission, to provide service above self.

People with deep convictions usually have strong beliefs. Publicly ignoring these beliefs raises strong emotions. Strong emotions often lead to separation, yet we were able to draw closer together. We wanted to create this little book in celebration of everyone who brought us to this point: those who took a stand to have their own beliefs recognized, those who wanted to have prayers only, those who wanted no prayers at all, those who raised their voices in frustration - each of us reached past our differences toward our deeper dedication to unity and, remarkably, all agreed to stay. No one turned and walked away.

Our original question was: How can we begin our meetings with invocations that actually honor everyone? Seeking that answer over a period of several years led us to the question we are asking now: If three-hundred of us can focus on a higher purpose and maintain peace and goodwill within our diverse microcosm, what is possible in our larger world?

The enthusiasm for this project has extended beyond our original intensions. Authors and photographers from around the globe are contributing their work. Prior to publication, the book had already expanded to several volumes in length. We hope this first volume will become a family standard, dog-eared and scribbled with your notes as you use it for: blessings or toasts at important family occasions, paying tribute to dear friends, addressing group gatherings, and for personal introspection.

We have intentionally designed the series to be user-friendly for a wide audience. While this is not intended to be a Rotary publication, we feel it is fitting to dedicate it to the memory of the founder, Paul Harris. He was a remarkable man from Vermont whose extraordinary faith in our human ability to dissolve our differences and draw together to serve the greater good inspires us to do just that.

"May Rotarians continue to be ambassadors of goodwill to high and low,
rich and poor, to all races, to the devotees of all religious faiths
and members of all political parties,
purveyors of tolerance, forbearance, justice, kindliness, neighborliness
and friendliness to the inhabitants of this snug little world,
the best little world which we know."

- Paul Harris 1868 to 1947