Committed Conversations

Walking into the concert [Monday night, April 14], I had noticed all the people from many different cultures and religions. Many were separated in to their own little segments in the audience. From the start we were asked to stand and chant chants, to my surprise everyone stood up started chanting, some even started dancing.

The speeches were phenomenal, I had learned that the west half of New Guinea contained over 256 different languages. Each tribe had love internally,but hate externally. Tribes would hold and love each other, even eat lice out of ones hair, yet were terrified to step in the territory of another tribe. Teaching us that we need to break our boundaries of love.

The Yuval Ron Ensemble performance was absolutely breath taking. The ensemble contained members of all different religions that came together to make beautiful music. At the end of their performance everyone was standing singing an Israeli prayer. A true moment of a multi cultural audience coming together as one. A moment of unification that is unforgettable.

-Stephen Heppler