The majority of patients are Muslim, and the majority of doctors and nurses are Christian at this hospital near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. “The aim is to help people—to help the poor, to help the sick, Muslim, Christian, or whatever… We don’t refuse anybody,” says Dr. Salim Kunkr of Holy Family Hospital.

“There’s so much to learn about ethical behavior in the Bhagavad Gita, the Talmud, all of the Old Testament, the New Testament…Islam,” says physician, philanthropist, former hippie, and Silicon Valley guru Larry Brilliant. His memoir is called Sometimes Brilliant: The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History.

“The buffalo was always part of our daily life,” says Harry Barnes, chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. “It was in front of us, it was behind us, it was around us. It created our shelter, our clothing, and that was an integral part of us. And then after we lost it, it was a major shift in our spirituality.”

"Carols and hymns are amazingly succinct theological statements,” says Eileen Guenther, professor of church history at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. “There is more theology in a few words of poetry than you can possibly imagine. You can have a whole sermon in four lines.”

“Refugees are not the ones harming this country,” says Aden Batar, director of immigration and refugee resettlement for Catholic Community Services of Utah. “Ever since the refugee resettlement program started back in the ’70s, we have more than 3 million successfully resettled in the US, and those refugees are contributing members of our society.”

"This world is filled with so many problems you almost don’t know where to start. When you gather a bunch of people together there’s strength, and there’s encouragement in that…Instead of hearing a sermon, they come here and be the sermon," says Grace Community Church senior pastor John Slye.

“When it’s time for prayer we say, am I clean?” explains Imam Talib Shareef of the Masjid Muhammad Mosque in Washington, DC. The ritual ablution a Muslim performs before prayer, he says, starts with intentions: “I intend to make the ablution for preparation to stand in obedience before my Lord.”

“These are shaky times,” says Christian gospel, R&B, rap, pop, and hip-hop artist Kirk Franklin. “I’m praying and hoping maybe one thing that I’ve said, from somebody who came from nothing, could maybe still give just a little bit of hope that it can get better.”

“We’ve got to protect our congregation and ourselves,” says David Lee, a Presbyterian church deacon. But “how do you really do that if someone enters our facility with intent to do harm? It’s not clear how do we go about doing things.”

“Everybody feels that sense of coming to the table together, dining together, sharing the meal together,” says Renee Boughman, executive chef in North Carolina’s High Country.