 The purpose and hope of Soul of a Citizen today is to gather together civic and faith leaders in our dominant culture of society and how we have separation of church and state and how it's difficult to talk about religion and politics at the Thanksgiving table. How can we come together as faith leaders and civic leaders utilizing the best resources that we have available to us and make a greater community striving toward the greater good and the common good. That's the conversations that we're having today, that we're starting today. We have a history in San Antonio that goes back to like probably long before the Civil Rights Movement but even during the Civil Rights Movement there weren't riots in San Antonio because there are faith leaders and community leaders who said, that's not happening here. We have a history of, you know, when gangs and gang violence was at its highest peak that we brought leadership together across faith lines and across civic lines to do something different. And so we start again today at Soul of a Citizen and asking those questions can faith relations be a civic practice and can civic relations be a faith practice? Coming from an environment where our religion or spiritual growth has always been very, very important I think in looking at it and still observing in a public office I think my conclusion about behavior in that realm is that religion can be a set of rituals that speak from a certain dedication of values. And so I feel like what I need to bring into public office is that set of values. I don't need to bring in a set of rituals. I don't need to bring in die-hard, you know, regulations and die-hard beliefs but to bring those values. I remember the first time when I was all shocked and upset that when I was running for office and somebody just lied about things and I was just kind of entertained and amazed and then my friends were saying, oh well Patty, that's politics. And I said, no, that's lying. And so it disturbs me every time somebody does something ugly, something bad in politics and people say that's politics. That was supposed to be about making good decisions, right, for people's lives, for society's lives. So we have to stop identifying, lying and cheating and stealing with politics. But I just start off there that I think that it's the values that we have to intermingle. Why would we leave behind, why would we enter civic engagement, why would we enter a public office and leave behind a commitment to honesty, a commitment to love, a commitment to understanding? I guess when you said that I had a particular question when you found yourself at this place and you said no, this person is lying. Sometimes we've seen it in public discourse where people are speaking out out of anger and sometimes out of anger comes a fear. And so part of it is sometimes, although it takes time to enter into dialogue, is how do we find moments where we can approach those who are coming at us, right? To say, what is it that you fear the most? What is it that causes you to behave in this manner? I remember specifically one time going to public forum when the city was considering expanding our nuclear energy plants. And I was at a town hall meeting and I had questions about process that I went up and asked those sitting up CPS and all those. Because I had questions and concerns. It was after everything had happened in Japan and I was sincerely concerned. I had questions about how we were going to take care of the waste. And I remember walking towards the back and this gentleman approached me just attacked me verbally and everything. And I had to stop and say, what is it that I said that angered you so much? And he didn't know how to answer that. But until I think we can start to engage in some kind of dialogue about what is it, is it the fear and what is that fear? Because that's where it stems from. And that's how we start to begin to have a conversation to move forward, I think in a productive manner. I'll say judging by the fact that everybody raised their hands when asked if they're a person of faith tells me that the answer has to be yes. We just have to figure out how to get there. And I think for me it's very helpful to think about the differences between politics and civics, which is kind of your distinguishing between the two because I bristle. In fact, when I was campaigning one of the first things I would tell people was I'm not a politician. I'm here to be a public servant. And I think there's a difference there for people that we have to be clear about. The other part is that I think faith is a deeply personal thing and there is a difference between faith and organized religion in the same sort of way. I think about politics as a way of separating people from the camps. Civics is a way of bringing us all together under a cause, under a community. Same way that faith is a deeply personal thing, your connection with your creator is something that's different for me than going to church on Sunday. I think that if we understand that what we're civics, if we're going to make it work, is about bringing more people into the tent, figuring out how we can involve more people and figure out how we can get to where we want to go as a community as opposed to individual camps of people, I think for me that's a step towards the answer. I started doing something and she said the institute called the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue but we changed the name to Dialogue Institute. There's a basic reason behind that. When you say the interfaith, you put a particular group of people in one site and there's a question. Is there another person that's not a faith person? But what's going to happen? If it's a city and we need the engagement of all citizens, then it needs to be a common name that welcomes everyone. Interfaith, maybe it's not a problem for San Antonio but a problem for some part of the world, and when you change the name from interfaith to the dialogue, some people they welcome you because it might come from the background, from the environment that they didn't raise in a faith family or they don't believe that it works. But honestly, everyone has a value. Either you have humanitarian, international value that you believe and you shape your life or you have faith value that you shape your life. And when it comes to our city or to our life, we need to look at which value is shaping our life. If it's our city, let's look at... Do you have a technology for our city? The way that we build our buildings, the way that we build our neighborhoods. What's leading us? Our faith, our humanitarian value or the full legend that is behind of our mind? There's a common belief for the politicians in all around the world. It's a question mark. And honestly, if they have a value, is it the faith value or the international value, the humanitarian value, then it comes to, as the councilman mentioned, it comes not to be a politician, it comes to be a civic servant for the city. All good points. And Patty, I'd say to you that I respect you very much, but politics doesn't have the corner on the market, I'm lying. It goes on other places. It goes on business and neighborhoods and all that. In my business career, I felt like, and I like what you said about values, it's not about wearing your religion on your sleeve, but sometimes it is, but it's about having, like the councilman said, it's a deeply personal belief that has an effect on the way you live and work. And what I've found is people in the business world that have that deep personal fundamental value system, whether their religion is something I understand or not, they have more balance in their life, I think. And so I think about that with civic engagement. If there is more of that, we have more balance in our civic engagement in our city. And I'm just excited to go to work for an organization that is faith-based. I don't think it's worn in the sleeve all the time, but I've talked to one employee there who was in very organized religion and that person has told me this has been a satisfying part of my career and that's helping people, and I think it's deeply seated in that value system of faith. I'd like to add on to the theme of the personal and how difficult it is to enter into dialogue because it is so personal, the aspect of faith, how it relates to our identity. For me, I grew up sick in San Antonio and I remember shying away always going to great lengths to avoid being in conversation with people where I would reveal that. Or feeling shameful or embarrassed of friends meeting my parents and seeing that my dad wore a turban, and that was actually before 9-11. Then after 9-11, it radically changed the way that my family practiced our faith. My dad removed his turban and cut his hair to be a very experienced that many folks who were turban in the United States experienced after 9-11. So just to drive home the point of how personal it is, I think this aspect of identity can bring us joy and it can also bring us pain and that's what makes it so hard to talk about. For me, it wasn't until I went to college and my critical consciousness formed and I started to understand how identities affect our lived experiences that I then was able to take control of that part of my identity, be proud of it and celebrate it and even go as far as then to say what responsibility does my faith give me, what values does my faith tell me how I can contribute to having an inclusive community, not only for people of the Sikh faith and tradition but other religious communities, other identities that experience discrimination or biases or prejudices and that's then how it informs or how it defines my public service. I appreciate being in the room with such a distinguished group of people. I know a lot of you through the years have done a great deal to work on inner faith yourselves. I would stand right by Patty which she so eloquently expressed about separation of church and state. I think it's separated for a reason to give strength to each. My concern is that there are people of faith and I'm not sure a lot of them are in this room who feel squelch that they can't speak about it in the public square and I think we're going to have to figure out how to talk to them to bring everybody in so people feel safe but we can protect separation of church and state. Thank you Nelson for joining us. We've just basically been responding to the question that Anne put before us regarding the integration of politics and church and civic service, religion. If you'd like to make an e-commerce answer. First of all I think it's extremely important to go in the right way. I don't like anybody taking their faith in telling me that it has to be that way in no other way and we see that in the political spectrum today where there's Ted Cruz and where there's Trump or whoever. It's great to have faith, great to expose your own but not make everybody feel uncomfortable if they don't agree with the faith that you have. We all have faith in some way because religion stands for faith I'm certainly different but I think it's extremely important to have that working condition. I'll give you two or three examples. When I was mayor this city was exploding with violence. The highest murder rate ever in the early 1990s. Gang shootings. It was a faith community that came together that created an atmosphere of taking young people and giving them other choices to do and I worked with every religious group there was in town to be able to do that. We shut down our clubs on the river that were strip clubs. We opposed gambling coming to San Antonio. We did a lot of good things collectively to get political system and faith. Same thing I guess you've got to point to cops metro is a good example. Catholic faiths but they're not telling me what I have to believe in in terms of my faith but they're telling me what I need to believe in in terms of community. I think that was great and we still have a great working relationship after 25, 25 years or so. We're going to have a big conference in the fall of this year led by faith dealing with mental health issues and how can churches be more proactive in doing that. So the relationship and the coming together is very, very important because it's done in the right way and I think most religious groups do that in the right way but there's some candidates that I just don't like the idea of somebody completely telling me that I've got to believe in a certain way or that that's the way it's going to be and every other Christian is a bad person. And so on that point so with the dialogue when we go back to dialogue is certainly trying not to so much talk about our different faiths and the differences that exist but how do we go about having conversations and dialogue about our shared interests in humanity? How do we address the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities and include them, right? But how do we also really talk about what are the shared interests that we all have because I think collectively we all want a better San Antonio a better, a stronger San Antonio a San Antonio that brings people to the table and so with that our hope or the hope is that that when we are sitting at the table when we are convening groups and making decisions that my hope is that we would talk about the changes that we want to make for the common good but also look at who's at the table making those decisions but most importantly who is not and I think that's very, very critical who is not at the table when we're looking to pass policies or we're looking to pass laws, policies that are affecting different groups in our community I think it's important to ask ourselves those questions I'll respond to that and you mentioned COPS Metro and Jorge's here I've had a relationship with them it's been very enjoyable for a long time and there's faith at the heart of that it's not just Catholics I mean there's some Methodists there too Jorge and others but I know that at the root of you know it's that value that is there and they do just what you are saying and they are the voice for those who would otherwise have a voice and I think they're a very important component of our community and faith is in that somewhere Kiran should bring a really important issue to the table the identity the question is how you are going to describe yourself how many identities do you have do you have just one identity that relates to your faith or do you have one identity that relates to your nation your color and your beliefs each of us has many identities and I guess the most important thing which one is dominant in whatever you do for the community if your faith is dominant then you are going to act that way if your race is then you are going to discriminate some people because you cannot bring a common ground for all of them now we have to make the distinction between our identities and either being a father or being a faith leader or being a politician that doesn't matter all have to have a balance and when you act as a public servant in a city you don't have to add right to make a distinction between the different faith people we have different organizations like happy for hope or food bank they do an amazing job but when you look at who they are serving they don't look at the race the color, the faith they serve to all people who are in need and we have to be careful about our identity and which one is dominant the conversation about identity is fascinating and I don't know where I heard this but I was told that America is unique in the world with regard to how we express identity in terms of the hyphen we have Mexican Americans we have African Americans we have Italian Americans Jewish Americans everything hyphenated American and that's been the emphasis on American that's where we come together as a country but you talk about the political dialogue that's happening now it's an attempt to reverse that you ask what's the priority well, it's this first country but it's the emphasis on how do we create the visions among these Americans so that we know who is really speaking for me this comment about this is my religion if you're with me you're with me, you're with my religion if you're not, then you're not even an American and that's the part that I think is really destructive and we really have to be wary of especially in a local community like San Antonio to keep that away because we have done, we've expressed that hyphen so very well in San Antonio and our history I wanted to comment on something you said earlier, Monica regarding the fear and having a reflex that says what are you afraid of I think that's an important reflex because the delivery of it would be cautious as well but it's like getting to that root of what is it that's separating us and usually somewhere in there it's that we don't understand each other or there's an ignorance on my part about what your background is or how you came to the conclusion of what you're doing and getting to that I think it's very important and it again it affects where our common ground is and if we don't ask that question it gets in the way of us understanding our common ground and perhaps we're operating out of the same value but seeing it in a different light and if I can understand how it is that you're seeing it maybe I can relay my fears of whatever it is and I think also your statement about who's at the table is very, very important I think of when I was in college and this priest asked us what does it mean to feed the hungry and here we are very middle class students living on campus in the dorms and one of them says well I think it means if somebody wants a second dessert we should get up and go get it for them and that didn't really sit with me I didn't think that's what Jesus was talking about it but there you know who was at the table it wasn't the people of poverty that were one block away and when we're making decisions in the city thank God that cops is there and yet there's so many people who aren't and are you do you bring to the table in politics or civic engagement that idea of inclusiveness if that's one of your values to be inclusive are you looking broad enough and if you're in some kind of a cocoon like we were on the college campus are you aware of that because you know people who live on the north side have no reason to drive down El Vida street or Dorion and see the terrible conditions of that housing but they may be people who operate out of very strong values about helping people who are poor but if they don't see it if it's out of their vision you know so how do we get ourselves to be conscious of asking questions related to inclusiveness when it comes to making political decisions and how do we bring those again those values that are at the root of perhaps why somebody ran for public office or why they're involved with their church you know if we get to that value we can I think unite on some of the actions it might actually be a good time to move and expand the conversation sounds like a natural cause how about when Judy was I didn't see I was just going to add that my national group started a civility institute firstly I think so that we Jews could learn how to speak to each other civilly but also so that for our country and to several of their workshops and there are actual tools that people can learn and that's something that we could share to get people to learn to listen and talk to each other a perfect segue it's a really strong word that most of us we have to learn listen and learn just basic it's in our knowledge but we don't use it listen and learn let the other side speak what they want to say and respect what what they say and learn from them I guess it's all thank you so I think what we're going to do is expand the conversation because I also saw some folks who were like wanting to raise their hand and participate which means they're ready so what we're going to do for another half hour is that I'm going to invite the entire room to be in conversation and to turn to each other in groups of like three no more than four and I'm going to encourage you as leaders and as adults maybe being groups of people you've never met before there's something but we might be able to listen and learn things from people we don't know you know we like to as humans kind of stick with the folks that we know and that's real affirming and comfortable but anyway for about a half hour to turn to other people and talk continue the conversation just as if because you were in the room and I know Ali was over here he was one of those raising his hand so he's ready to talk right so we're going to do that for about 30 minutes and we also want to invite those small groups if you have a thought or a question we're going to come and bring you some index cards but a thought of conversation a question of conversation that kind of comes out of your group we'll collect those and then we're going to come back again in a closing circle and we're going to kind of continue from those if that makes sense I do want to take a moment to recognize the architect because she's going to go to work I hope look at her but this is my daughter Rachel and she helped create this beautiful room that you're in and so I'm very proud of my legacy standing over there because she believes in San Antonio and that's why she does the storage of architecture anyway so I invite you to do that if you don't know where the restrooms are because this might be something someone needs they're out the door here and immediately to the left and there's water and coffee and pastries still but we're not really taking a break we're turning to each other in threes or fours and continuing the conversation alright are we clear great okay if we can take a seat we can take a seat our closing circle will again be our convening circle again what we're just trying to do here is to continue to model leadership and so I'm relying on the leaders in the middle and I'm going to interject as if we're having a conversation with the entire room a few more people are taking their seat um Plaza de Armas what does that translate into exactly this is a test this isn't part of the conversation the weapons yeah it's weapons square storehouse weapons storehouse but what's beautiful about this gathering is that we've all brought our own lives in our own arms, our own hands, our own thoughts, our own voices and we're humanizing and working towards the greater good so the first part of the next round is a comment and so the closing circle can come in on it as well but with citizens of Jewish synagogues, Islamic mosques, Sikh temples and Christian churches in this room let's move beyond the language of separation of church and state let's say religions and state thoughts about that comment I think it's a lovely idea I think we all understand that church means is inclusive by the other religions we're just not always aware we become the most religiously diverse country in the world I think that when that term was first brought up it was probably very appropriate to those who are making that term but again it's a matter of us waking up for something we so commonly say to say that it's another day now we are we do look different from people that just go to church so I think it becomes an important piece as we progress together trying to be more inclusive how about closer the comment brings up an important space to talk about the importance of language and how we enter into dialogue with each other and also how we define again our public service I think a commitment to always staying current with language that is inclusive of all different kinds of people is a practice that we have to continually dedicate ourselves to and so while we might all understand that the history of why it's church rather than religion there's so many other aspects I'm sure for all of us that we could afford to learn more and expand our vocabulary when it comes to language which really works comments and connects to this next question how can we work with how can we open up a conversation with government officials whose religious ideas are the basis of policies and that can be harmful like believing in science and environmental concerns how do we open up that language I don't know that I got the gesture to the question but I guess it was how do you approach a official that's got strong religious beliefs in a certain way I don't know but try to figure that out with Ted Cruz I can't figure it out I don't know how you've reached that kind of a gap all I know and religions are sacred each one of them is and you got to stand up for each other I know after the 9-1-1 there was an attack on Muslims here somebody's restaurant was broken into and the windows were crashed and we all had a conference at the front steps of City Hall with the mayor there and almost every religious leader where there was some of the Jewish community or the Christian or Protestants or Catholic were there to speak up for the Muslims and I think that was really important we see some of that today with Trump's keep the Muslims out but the Christians in you got to stand up for each other that reminds me of that day where you feel like things like that are so far away and what can we do you know that's New York here we are in San Antonio and on that issue of hate that came out my son and I went up to the Muslims who run the little store up the street and just brought them flowers and said you know sorry for what you're going to I think there's you know that thing you know work locally think globally and we forget how local that can be sometimes and how important little actions can be reach some of those gaps I was talking about those segregation about 1500 veterans they came to the mosque over there to support the Muslims there was no place in the whole area to park any cars everyone wouldn't know what was going on and there were veterans there were the people that served in the Middle East most of them that they know what was going on in the politics and when they served the army what was going on just letting you know and you think about that brave act as well and it turns to the next question how do we try to overcome fear in faith communities to be more civically engaged without talking politics and I would suggest the other side is also a valid question how do we try to overcome fear in the political realm to be more engaged with the faith community we kind of talked about this in our group a little bit and because we had one member of our group who was talking about the concerns when they when one starts to try to discuss how to become engaged and specifically we did bring in like cops metro and I know what they're very well so we had lots of conversations and granted I think the role cops metro has played historically over the years has been very important role but I also would like to think and I'm speaking for Jorge that he would like not to be the only place the only thing happening in town right that the hope is that there are other groups and other congregations and around the city that are doing exactly that so the question was certainly they have great tools and cops metro has done great work but how can we teach each other and if it's not going through that door of let's say the cops metro door then we create another door but that we look again at how we bring people bring members of our faith community think about serving the most vulnerable vulnerable in our community what is the humanity behind what we're trying to achieve for the common good can we all agree that we have the shared interest of making our community better and then government plays a role in that and how can we become more engaged in government at that level so that it's all of us coming together to speak at city council or commissioners court to hold other members accountable and to be engaged to be part of the solution not just be able to hold others accountable how do we collectively hold ourselves accountable for these decisions personally I am at the side of learning that there is two terms teaching and learning I'm not at the side of the teaching when you believe that to teach something to someone then you close your mind to learn because your main goal what you believe is correct for you hold your life and you try to preach it and teach the people but I believe that we have to be open to learning it doesn't matter what you do you are a teacher government officer but you have to be open to learning another question how can we turn the negative perspective of politics and politicians to a positive one in America is that possible the basic word just simply means the work of the people boy that's a tough one isn't it first to answer your question I have to apologize because I'm part of this problem when we talk about politics as being different from civics because we've seated the ground we had a great conversation our group about this we've seated the ground of vocabulary to the folks that want to denigrate what happens in the political environment politics is very necessary for us to achieve compromise on any kind of issue tough issue to find what the common ground is for a community of diverse people and getting back to the earlier question also there's any number of issues from the environment to public health that is going to require us to figure out how we bridge gaps between very different points of view politics is what gets us there this idea that politics being the art of compromise and the compromise in relativism is a sin that needs to be done away with very quickly we're never going to get anything done in our community and we see that that's kind of the gridlock that's happening in state and national politics now so we have to I think for me personally my takeaway is no longer talk about politics as being different from the work that I do or the kind of public service that I want to deliver bring it back into the tent of this is a very good thing for us if we behave well in our community about what politics can do well what we're lacking today is civility and the political spectrum and particularly at the national level appealing to people's worst instincts and those voices are heard a great deal more than say Kasek from Ohio who has kept a very positive campaign and and overshadowed by all of the rhetoric of the two other major candidates so it's missing and I don't know how the faith-based community can teach a just a civic lesson in how to behave how that could affect politicians but right now the rhetoric of the candidate in the Republican Party is garnering more votes and civility is growing seems to me too that whole Gondian concept of be the change we wish to see you know to be these different to use the different language to do that actively to be about the work as well I think also in the conversation that we're having where I'd like to differentiate between different registers of affecting change it's the individual and there's also the institutional and I think Patti your example of walking to a nearby store and providing flowers that you know the stores run by a Muslim family that's from the individual to the individual and that show of compassion I think when we think about affecting change or even building trust between public servants or politicians and communities the individual there has a responsibility for example to vote to participate in those in our institutions in our local government and then from the institution side there's a responsibility as well to think about again using the voting example how can we ensure that everyone has access to vote and that's an inclusive process which kind of ties into this one that in the convening circle it was mentioned several times that's important to include everyone at the table and the question is where is the table or what is the table I think we sit at various tables every day of our lives or every week or throughout the year and so where is the table I don't know how to answer that but it's changing like we said it's a mobile table but I think it's just taking that time to pause if we are in a decision making process or looking at at the university where I work we try and see whenever we're looking to implement some kind of policy even on campus we say what are students saying what do students think about this and I think often times especially in higher education that we don't do a very good job of including the voices of young people in the decision that is occurring rather on campus or in our community I think maybe one of the challenges is that we're trying to define what the table is civic life should be inclusive of voices all of the time we can see that people aren't at the table when we get less than 10% turnout in a municipal election or when Pew studies tell us that Americans in greater numbers than ever before find themselves non-religious and don't affiliate with a faith of any kind that means that they are not at the table we're defining the problem but I think until we stop saying well this is your table you go synthetic when you're called and not consider that voices of civics and voices of faith and religious life should be present all of the time for everyone making decisions we're not going to really get to a solution and to push that into the next generation as well and so to follow on we talked about how do you integrate other people how do you integrate community voices and community opinions with your own when you're asked to make a decision part of that is just being a listener the number one job for anybody to live in a community of any kind is to listen to your neighbors and make sure you're conducting yourself in a way that's but just to offer and to be open with any kind of media channel any kind of opportunity to communicate with people in the community especially when you're in that kind of position and since we're talking about how do we communicate with people in the community what might be next from today I got a walking mic if others have thoughts might be the next step here's one follow up on question of where is the table and I think that was a good answer the table is everywhere wherever you are in decision making position you are at the table and a good question that came up a good statement is how do we instill the language of peacemaking the leaders at the table that doesn't seem to occur often and I think maybe leaders today are perceived a certain way they rise to the top with certain mindsets so they walk into the table with preconceptions of teaching and doing not learning and listening so what's the if you talk about the dichotomy of the dangerous dichotomy of two languages occurring in the spiritual life and workplace life how do we reconcile those because there's a lot of energy I think you mentioned in the workspace that is an entertainment that is almost dangerous and it's how do we harness that energy into more of a peacemaking energy and I think the last statement was the language of peacemaking is not for weaklings let's change that attitude so the question of what's next part of it is how do we harness the energy and move forward I think we had a statement over there oh yes okay now hello yes I'm sitting here thinking about a project I have working on right now from the University of Carnot Ward it is called interfaith inc inclusive celebration of faith and reason and I would love to send you the first draft of our mission state vision and plan and find from people like yourselves in fact find from yourselves if we're hitting in the right direction and if you would like to put any additions or subtractions to what we are planning it will be held any place in the city the table will be everywhere but eventually we will have a retreat and conference center not for living retreats but for a place like the raindrop house a place like that or the university itself where people can come and hear their faith life not to evangelize but to grow in understanding and where it's directly it will be situated north of the denman estate park when the denman estate was being sold to developers one of the city council people used her power and the people around the area used their power to connect with Diana Cyprian who went to back for them and the city purchased approximately 15 acres approximately 7 and a half acres was left for development and she went over to Lou Agnesi at UIW he got the board to purchase it and said his dream was to have a retreat and conference center because walking into that space is like walking into the middle of the hill country of Texas right here in the middle of San Antonio so it's a gorgeous spot it's wonderful it's country and it's still in the middle of the city we have the space and the plans to build but in the meanwhile we need to build this we need to build our relationships to support that and we have now who is teaching marketing at UIW and using her students to develop a marketing plan for the interfaith ache and it is amazing what those young people are coming up with you most likely will have more stickers before we know it you know websites and I now own five or six domains I never owned a domain I didn't know what it was anyway it's in my name poverty not withstanding anyway so if you would like information I cannot promise that I will write to all of you but if you would like information take down this address it's an email, a new email address new to me interfaith ache that's I-N-T-E-R-F-A-I-T H-I-N-C but it doesn't mean incorporation it means inclusive celebration all one word just interfaith ache at UIW T-X dot E-D U I will have my student at UIW respond to you he's not working until next Friday not good Friday but the next Friday or Saturday anyway he is taking on the responsibility to respond for me so what we've heard so far is harnessing the energy and the importance of knowing what's happening communicating and connecting and we got somebody coming here and it's also going to pass around the list of the folks in here if you want to stay on an email list to hear more if you would check, then you will be if you don't check, you won't so you had somebody, oh Ali just a quick question going back again to how can we what is going to be the outcome that could be of this meeting and that is, I have two suggestions one is that all of us that we are involved in our to initiate more learning in regards to many of our people that they have come to America, they are all immigrants ok, once upon a time we all, our ancestors have been immigrants they do not know how to merge and get involved into the politics of America when they see what we see today in regards to the presidential elections will turn them out very badly because all of them have come from the countries having you choosing someone has been a taboo even though we cannot choose someone here either we are not democratic we are more union so what I am trying to say but still, my point is that learning education of our communities in regards to not to be turned off from becoming a voting member and still be involved even if they do not want to get involved into the national level that we are involving the local levels in the people that they choose that they really make policies and regulations in their daily life in their locality that is one thing that I am suggesting that all we do when we go back to our interfaith, I mean inner communities of our faith but then also suggestions to our politicians the positive gesture that you mentioned as the people who they want to serve their communities and the communities that they are trying to serve and understand the diversity which is existing so that they can serve them better thank you very much I think we are going to close it at this point because we said we would do that but to sum up the harness the energy to know what is going on in our larger community communicate and connect to continue to learn and educate and go back to our own communities and up as well I think those are all words of wisdom if you have other specific ideas and how to do that the peace center is welcome to hear that and we welcome that as well I just want to take one moment before we go out into the world and back into our places and I invite each of us to think of at least one other person in our life to expand this room a bit that you have been having maybe a similar conversation think about them I also invite you to think about somebody else in your life that you find that it is more difficult to have this conversation with and to think about them and encourage you to maybe reach out to them and may they be blessed those who have brought us to this place our own family our own communities may they be blessed may those directions that are harder for us to go and the people for us to engage may they also be blessed because that's the only way this is going to work may the folks who made this happen today may they be blessed and may our lives today all be blessed as we move forward into the world I want to also thank Sebastian when you're on your way out he kind of runs this place and we give him a thank you for the space for setting it up