The most uplifting news I heard over the past week was that a choir of Lebanese young women – Christian and Muslim – are planning to sing together for the Feast of the Annunciation, on March 25 next year.
Since Mary is honoured both in the New Testament and the Koran, it is a common note that Lebanese girls can share. The hymns and choral music which they perform reach out towards both faith traditions. It is healing, it is ecumenical, and it is an affirmation of female value.
But then the Lebanon – for all its political problems (it hasn’t had a president for two years for reasons of internal political wrangling) – has managed to remain a beacon of inter-faith tolerance in the Middle East. As I remarked when I visited there last winter, schoolgirls from all faiths seem to pal around together harmoniously.
