Interfaith service held to honor King's life

Hands of all colors, belonging to members of various religions, rose in unison in response to the Rev. James Forbes Jr.'s booming request. "We need some hands to heal the spirit of America," he cried out. Forbes, the senior minister of New York City's Riverside Church, spoke to approximately 50 people gathered in the Christian Association's auditorium yesterday afternoon. His speech, "Reconciliation and Justice: Every Person Makes a Difference," confronted racial unity and other problems in America. The event, sponsored by the Interfaith Council and the Office of the Chaplain, was the last in a week-long series commemorating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Interim Chaplain Frederic Guyott expressed enthusiasm about Forbes' decision to speak at the University. "Forbes is the most well-known, prominent African American minister in the country," said Guyott, calling the Riverside Church "arguably the most important Protestant Christian pulpit in the country." Forbes, who also serves as an adjunct professor of preaching at the Union Theological Seminary, said he hopes to challenge and reach students who he believes will eventually become "influential around the nation." Forbes added that he wanted to "illuminate certain specific ways of using our hands as instruments of healing." Before Forbes spoke, Wharton junior Brian Sheth read from major works of five different religious faiths -- Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Students from each of those faiths then spoke about how the readings related to King's legacy. Wharton junior Sameer Chandan, the speaker for the Buddhist faith, welcomed the opportunity to speak about King. "The Practical Penn can sometimes forget that 'laws without morals are useless'," Chandan said. "Dr. King reminds us that our laws and our actions don't have to be distinct from our beliefs." College freshman Michael Tower, spoke from the perspective of the Jewish faith. "There's a lot of tension right now between the African American and Jewish communities and that's really a tragedy," Tower said. "Here you have two groups of people who have undergone similar ordeals and have historically worked together to attain freedom and justice." But it was Forbes, dressed in a black and red preaching robe which he said would enhance the spiritual nature of his speech, who captivated the audience. Forbes urged the audience to act to achieve King's dream of equality. As everyone in the room stamped their feet in unison, Forbes chanted loudly for all to "get on the path and stay on the path." Forbes also analyzed America's problems, attributing them to "perplexity, paranoia and power." He went on to discuss the need for all people to learn to appreciate each other's cultures and abilities, denying the existence of separate races altogether. "There is no such thing in the mind of the Divinity as race in and of itself," Forbes exclaimed. "There is but one race -- the human race." Responding to a question about the O.J. Simpson trial, Forbes said the trial's great tragedy was that it lured Americans into looking at each other along racial lines Forbes concluded his speech by having everyone stand, as he symbolically anointed their hands. Wharton and Engineering freshman Steve Blum, who said he came to the event to learn more about King's message, noted that all the speakers affected him. "Not only did Dr. Forbes do a good job," Blum said. "But all the people who spoke were really insightful."