By JENNIFER SOLIS
Daily News Correspondent
October 5, 2004

BYFIELD-- "Leave the fire on in the desert" is an old Arabic adage meant to convey to a weary traveler that "we'll leave the light on for you." It typifies a Bedouin tradition of welcoming strangers and of genuine hospitality that's characteristic of the people of Iraq, says Afaf Stevens, an American woman, born and raised in Bagdad.

Yet, most Westerners, especially Americans, don't understand this very fundamental aspect of Middle Eastern culture, Stevens told a group of women attending an interfaith retreat held in Byfield last month.

The Women's Interfaith Spirituality Encounter (WISE), a weekend retreat organized by Newburyport's Anna Smulowitz, was held at Adelynrood, a center for reflection owned and operated by the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross.

Stevens, who holds two masters degrees, one in International Education from UMASS Amherst and a second in World Religions from Harvard Divinity School, was one of two keynote speakers at the retreat. She spoke about her peace initiative, Bridging East and West, an attempt to foster a better understanding of the Middle East.

Smulowitz, a long-time theatre producer and more recently an interfaith chaplain at Salem Hospital, organized the event in conjunction with The Chaplaincy Institute of Maine, bringing together 64 women of diverse faith traditions in hopes of finding some common ground among the collective female perspectives.

The women were Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhast, Pagan, Jewish, and a majority of them were healers by trade -- nurses, therapists, hospice workers, ministers.

"It was about women defining their spiritual path in the unique way that women can," said Smulowitz.

In a variety of workshops offered throughout the weekend they explored the complex connection between mind, body, and spirit, as they looked for ways to heal the wounds that cultural misconceptions create.

By all accounts it was a profoundly moving weekend, said Smulowitz, who has already set the date for next year's retreat for Aug. 12 - 14, 2005.

She hopes lessons learned over this weekend will have a ripple effect that eventually causes a shift in the world's paradigm for dealing with differences.

"For me this gathering and sharing by women from all different faiths reaffirmed my own belief that all people are spiritually related and connected to God or the Creative Life Force of Divine Love. We can create a more peaceable world if we seek to recognize the good or God in all people regardless of who they are," said Barbara Hildt, who also gave a keynote address.

Hildt, an Amesbury resident who practices the Quaker tradition, is the founding director of YES, Youth Empowerment Services, an organization dedicated to teaching young people to become peaceable leaders.

Hildt, an Amesbury resident who practices the Quaker tradition, is the founding director of YES, Youth Empowerment Services, an organization dedicated to teaching young people to become peaceable leaders.

Her presentation focused on the diversity existing in the Middle East and the historic impact Islam has had on western society's understanding of mathematics, science, medicine, architecture, and art.

The Cambridge resident, who still has family members living in Bagdad and describes herself as "heartbroken beyond any limit" with the current situation in Iraq, developed the peace initiative in response to what she feels is a distorted and stereotypic view of the Arab world by Westerners, particularly in the United States.

While speaking at a high school recently, Stevens was surprised by the lack of awareness students had regarding the rich cultural history of Iraq. Even more disturbing, she says, was the derisive tone she encountered from students, when she attributed advances such as Algebra to the Mesopotamic cultures. The term Algebra stems from the Arabic word Al Jabr.

"I expected at least an acknowledgement, if not gratitude," Stevens recalled. Instead, the teens had no idea where Ancient Mesopotamia was located geographically and were incredulous when she told them it was part of modern Iraq.

It was a turning point of sorts for Stevens who then began to realize just how deep was Western mistrust and misunderstanding of Middle Eastern culture and societies. Given this realization, Stevens said her experience at the WISE retreat was refreshingly hopeful.

"From the moment I entered until I left, I felt there was a genuine attempt to understand one another and I felt immense love," recalled Stevens.

At various times over the weekend, participants gathered to share some of their sacred and cultural traditions. Smulowitz described her thrill at seeing a Jewish woman and a Muslim finding common threads running thorough their respective faiths or "watching a 72 year old ex-nun and a young Hindu teenager belly dancing together."

Stevens remembers reciting an Arabic chant, which inspired the group to chant together in a circle for several minutes.

"We were all immersed in one ocean and none of us had to give up something of ourselves," she noted.

"This is more of what the world needs, let us turn off the radios and TV's and computers and find ourselves in holy space where the sound of breathing is the common thread and the experience of laughter is the fuel," said Helen Rankin, a West Newbury resident and owner of Gram's Ice Cream in Newburyport, who attended the retreat.

Rankin suggests that the monastic surroundings of Aleynrood set the tone for the women's spiritual journey that weekend. Each woman resided in a small, sparse room separated from the others by curtains.

"As the layers of our own identity became less apparent so did the curtains of our rooms start to open. The forum for self expression and connection seemed to be the most important symbol of the entire weekend; that we, the women of the world, could make a difference," said Rankin.

Women getting in touch with their power to heal the world is, in part, what the WISE retreat was about, agrees Smulowitz.

Current world events demand that women get more involved in international decision-making, because they understand on an intuitive level the importance of caring about what happens to other people's children, she said.

A culture that applauds the use of terms like "girlie-men" to put people down or that mocks taking a more sensitive approach to international affairs is marginalizing the female perspective, she contends.

"I'm not offended if you call me a girlie-girl because I get to heal people, and I welcome with open arms any girlie-man who chooses to go towards peace," said Smulowitz.