Good evening. My name is John Peterson. I am the Director of the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation here at the National Cathedral. On behalf of the Center and the Dean of the Cathedral, Sam Lloyd, I would like to welcome you to the screening of a very special documentary, Rumi Returning. We are delighted to have you here tonight. We are also privileged to have with us the producers and directors of the film, Cynthia Lucas and Kell Kearns, as well as Andrew Harvey, who, besides being a mystic in his own right, is one of the world's foremost experts on Rumi, and a commentator in the film. I am delighted to say that all three will be participating in a question and answer period following the screening of this remarkable documentary.

As many of you undoubtedly know, the name Rumi is synonymous with boundless compassion, tolerance, acceptance of all, and unbridled--even ecstatic--love for God. We know him as the first great poet of Divine Love and his writings are filled with a fervor and an exuberance for God that is unrivaled in Eastern or Western literature. This ecstatic fire, this luminosity, born of his passion for the Divine, still radiates brightly more than seven centuries after his death. I think it is safe to say that Rumi is hotter today than ever. The three countries in which he lived and studied, Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey, all adamantly claim his as their own son. Also, 2007 marked the 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth which inspired not only innumerable Rumi festivals around the world but prompted the United Nations cultural arm, UNESCO, to declare 2007 as "The International Year of Rumi." We also know that Rumi has been and remains the best-selling poet of all time.

What accounts for the adoration of this Sufi mystic and poet who, all these years after his death, draws in Muslim and non-Muslim alike? We know that one of the central themes of his thoughts, like that of other Sufi mystics and poets, was centered on the concept of "Tawhid," which is unity and union with his Beloved, the sacred root from which he felt he had been cut, and his writings express a powerful desire and longing for reunion with that Beloved. We know that Rumi looked on all people of God as pursuing the same truth and he openly embraced followers of different religious traditions. His messages of tolerance and unconditional acceptance seem especially poignant at this place and time in our history because so many of the world's most volatile struggles are rooted in differences that exist between and among peoples of different faiths.

The National Cathedral stands proudly as a house of prayer for all people and followers of many faith traditions have worshipped in this sacred space. In our work at the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation, we are constantly seeking ways to advance reconciliation between followers of the three Abrahamic faiths by creating opportunities for meaningful engagement. We achieve this primarily through interfaith dialogue and relationship building, but also through artistic and cultural programs that allow people of different faiths to encounter and humanize "the other" and, hopefully experience the Divine in the other. We pray our interfaith efforts are at the very least a modest reflection of Rumi's spirit of unconditional acceptance and love.

It is clear that in a post-9/11 world, Rumi's work and voice seem to have found a new power and relevance. I would venture to say that right now, our world is hungry--perhaps starved--for Rumi's timeless messages of unlimited tolerance, goodness, charity, and awareness through love. It is for these reasons, perhaps, that many of us have gathered here this evening.

We at the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation are hosting this film to reaffirm Rumi's messages of love of God, love of neighbor, and love of peace through this a remarkable documentary and we hope you will enjoy the film. We will resume our discussion after the film has be.