01:28 AM CST on Monday, January 9, 2006

By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV

A Muslim, Jewish and Christian leader prayed side-by-side at Friendship Among Faiths.

Christians, Jews and Muslims came together for the sixth annual Friendship Among Faiths to pray for peace Sunday at the Islamic Center of Irving.

While the condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be assessed by doctors Monday after they try to bring him out of a medically induced coma after his stroke, thoughts of Sharon and the situation in the Mideast were on the minds of many North Texans who gathered to pray.

"This is a time for us to share beliefs without apology [and share] who we are in the same room and the same place," said Dani Loving Cartwright, a regional minister and president of the Disciples of Christ Church in the Southwest. "[We gather] to learn about one another's traditions, hear one another's thoughts and to discover who we are in this world together."

While praying, leaders expressed the difficulties and complexities of believing that peace will come.

"We all hope for peace," said Rabbi Paul Steinberg, Congregation Beth Torah. "I'd like to think it is a continual hopeful time, [but] it is a strain too. There are people making tremendous sacrifices, but I would like to believe that we can all remain hopeful."

However, while they acknowledged the obstacles in praying for peace, all of them said they believe there are steps everyone can take to get a little closer.

"Even though we can't describe it or understand it, we can have it as individuals," Rev. Cartwright said as she spoke to the group.

At the gathering, the group managed to shed what makes them different and celebrate their goal for peace.

"We cannot say we are 100 percent hopeful, and we cannot say we are 100 [percent] cautious," said Imam Zia ul Haque Sheikh, Islamic Center. "We are halfway in between I'd say."

E-mail rrodriguez@wfaa.com