About Us
What If
What if there were a place where we could practice
respecting religious differences while honoring sameness?
Perhaps then we could...
recognize the face of our brother and sister
beyond color, dress or language.
What if there were a place where we could practice
celebrating each person's unique expression of the Divine
while honoring our common heartbeat?
Perhaps then we could...
understand that each of us has a role to play ~ a gift to offer.
What if there were a place where we could practice
engaging the difficult issues while
together forging new Pathways to peace?
Perhaps then we could...
begin to build a world family
and learn to love our neighbor as our self.
What is an Interfaith Fellowship?
What We Believe
What Our Logo Means
About the Minister — The Reverend Stephanie Rutt
What is an Interfaith Fellowship?
In September of 2005, I opened the Tree of Life Interfaith Fellowship to answer the questions in "What If?" We are a community of ordinary people forging the extra-ordinary mission to create a space where we may practice truly seeing the Divine within all peoples of all religions. The vision of our Fellowship is to express this mission through the practice of prayer and the joy of service. We believe that it is through prayer we experience our innate Divinity. This experience reveals our eternal connection to all life. Feeling connected to all peoples, we naturally reach out to serve the needs of our neighbor through joyful service.
The Tree of Life Interfaith Fellowship includes the Tree of Life School for Sacred Living, LLC, and the Gifts of Grace Foundation, a 501c3 charitable interfaith organization.
What is an Interfaith Fellowship?
What We Believe
What Our Logo Means
About the Minister — The Reverend Stephanie Rutt
We believe that God is at the center of all religions and is expressed as that which is the same in all of us. When this is recognized, we begin to see ourselves in all beings and all beings in our self. We can begin to love saint and sinner the same because now no one is outside the bounds of our love. No one. We can begin to truly love our neighbor as our self.
"Love One Another as I Have Loved You."
Jesus
"If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all."
Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji (Sikh)
We believe that it is through the practice of prayer that we awaken to our Divinity and come to know God. We recognize that there are many are the ways we pray to one God. Prayer is not intellectual experience but rather a humble opening to our deepest desire to be one with our Creator and to become an instrument for the greater good.
"After all,
The purpose of The Prayer
is not to stand and bow
all day long.
The purpose
is to possess continuously
that fragrant state
which appears to you in prayer.
Asleep or awake,
writing or reading,
in every state
never be empty
of remembrance.
Be rather one of those
moving constantly
within prayer."
Sufis
"There is a place that cannot be found by going anywhere."
The Buddha
We believe that we are here to serve one another with joy and thanksgiving. Because we strive to see ourselves in all beings and all beings in our self, we naturally feel the suffering of our sisters and brothers as our own — regardless of religion, race, creed or nationality. And, we naturally rejoice in the Divinity of others as our own. As we serve our neighbor, we serve God.
"None of you are true believers
until you love for your brother what you love for yourself."
Muhammad
"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life."
Saint Francis of Assisi
We believe that the role of suffering is to awaken our humanity to love one another and to hone us for greater service. While we may not always be able to control what happens to us or around us, we do have absolute control over how we respond. In turning away from victimhood, we open to receive the gifts inherent in all experience.
"Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light,
so when we are in sorrow,
then this light is nearest of all to us."
Meister Eckhart
"We do not see things as they are.
We see them as we are."
The Talmud
We believe that each person has a unique part to play in the Divine Plan. Though it may appear that some play a more visible or far reaching role, in truth, no one's role is more valuable to the whole than another's. Each of us was created to be holy — to offer our gifts — our unique spark of the Eternal Flame — for the greater good.
"It is better to do your own dharma imperfectly that another's perfectly."
Bhagavad Gita
"There is nothing extraordinary about being holy. We were made for that."
Mother Teresa
What is an Interfaith Fellowship?
What We Believe
What Our Logo Means
About the Minister — The Reverend Stephanie Rutt
The Sword and the Dove
During my last year in seminary, I began to pray for guidance in creating my ministry. As I prayed, two images emerged consistently — the sword and the dove. Soon a visual emerged in my mind and I asked my husband, Doug, to draw a few samples. He had created the image for the Tree of Life Yoga Studio and I just knew he could capture the essence of this new idea. And, of course, he did. I then gave the initial drawing to Jan Grossman who added color and the lines to the four directions as her Guidance directed. She also painted the image on to my alb that I wear for worship services. I just so often wonder how I could possibly be more blessed to have such love, creativity and support around me!
The Meaning of the Two Swords
On the image there are two swords. One sword represents a line from an old Christian hymn which asks: "cut through my comfort and my fear". All of us live with illusions that we're not enough in one way or another. Fear of exposure keeps us within our comfort zone. But, in truth, how could we not be enough when the Lord is our Shepherd? Our task is to remember that we are enough — as we each have a unique part to play in the Divine Plan — and that we are nothing — when we humbly pray, "Thy will be done". In such moments of surrender, we discover the Truth that sets us free.
The second sword represents our duty to defend the innocent and helpless — to fight for justice when righteousness is discarded. We must not shrink in the battle against ignorance. Yet, our great challenge is to fight hatred without hating, oppression without oppressing. Our great challenge is to demonstrate a different way — to stand up against the forces of darkness without becoming that which we would destroy.
The Meaning of the Dove
The Dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit within all things — the Light that dwells deep in the hearts of all forever beyond darkness. When we remember this Truth, a calm comes in the midst of the many storms of life as we become filled with the peace that surpasses all understanding. The Dove is also given so that we may recognize the Holy Spirit in all our brothers and sisters. As we do so, our hearts fill with love and compassion for everywhere we look we see God's family — our family.
What is an Interfaith Fellowship?
What We Believe
What Our Logo Means
About the Minister — The Reverend Stephanie Rutt
About the Minister ~ The Rev. Stephanie Rutt
Stephanie is an ordained Interfaith Minister and the founder of the Tree of Life Interfaith Fellowship which includes The Tree of Life School for Sacred Living, LLC, and the Gifts of Grace Foundation. She is also the past Convener of the Souhegan Valley Interfaith Council. Stephanie has been a student, teacher, healer and mentor on the spiritual Path for over twenty years. She is an experienced yoga practitioner with certifications in Kripalu and Kundalini Yoga and the creator of the Pastoral Mentoring Program through which she offers spiritual mentoring and instruction on developing a daily spiritual practice. She is the creator of the Bhagavad Gita Certificate Program and has also facilitated spiritual studies groups using texts from a variety of religious traditions. Stephanie holds a MA in Counseling and in the early 90s worked as a mental health counselor at Milford Regional Counseling Services. Stephanie also taught for many years in the Behavioral Sciences for the University of New Hampshire at Manchester.
