Our multifaith, multicultural meeting was ablaze with color and light and warmed by music, song and dance. Women of seven traditions arranged tables with food, cloths, candles, and other festive items that illustrate their spiritual celebrations as expressed through the metaphor of light. Members were able to sample festive foods and ask questions about the items at the tables representing Bah\u00e1’\u00ed, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Kwanzaa and Wicca. Some of the traditions also entertained us with traditional music or dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bah\u00e1’\u00ed\u2014Cher Fortune<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This table was very popular, not least because of the wonderful desserts! Cher answered questions and explained that Bah\u00e1’\u00eds consider knowledge and education to be light in our lives. Bah\u00e1\u0384u\u0384ll\u00e1h said, \u201cYou are my lamp, my light is in thee.\u201d His sayings echo many of the metaphors of light familiar to other religions. The light should show in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christianity\u2014Janet Donoghue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Janet coordinated this table with its many candles: votives to be lit\nin either gratitude or supplication; a large paschal candle used throughout the\nEaster season; sanctuary candles; an Advent wreath with four candles that are\nlit during the four weeks prior to Christmas; and a unity candle used at\nweddings. Christians consider Christ to be \u201cthe light of the world.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hinduism\u2014Smita\nRane<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This table had illustrations depicting the multitude of small\nlamps, called diyas, that are lit during Diwali,<\/em>\nthe Hindu festival of lights. Smita explained that these lamps are considered\nto be the lighted pathway of a person\u2019s expression of happiness and a way of\npaying obeisance to God. Smita introduced Sudha Raj<\/strong>, a\nteacher of South Indian classical dance, also known as bharata natyam. The\ndances are based on Hindu scripture and legends and use footwork, hand and\nfacial gestures, and head, neck and eye movements to enact these stories. Sudha\nintroduced her teenage daughter, Minakshi<\/strong>, who\nhas been studying dance since she was five years old. Minakshi wore a beautiful\ngreen-and-orange dance costume, with fan pleats in the front, and bells on her\nankles. As Minakshi performed a temple dance, we were fascinated by the\nmovement of her hands and head, the opening and closing of her fan pleats, and\nthe gentle jingle of her bells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Judaism\u2014Ann Eppinger Port & Francine Berg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ann and Francine, who is cantor of Temple Society of Concord,\nanswered questions and explained the various items at this table: a traditional,\nseven-branched temple menorah and a nine-candle menorah for Hanukkah; Shabbat\ncandles that are lit at the beginning of the Sabbath and braided Havdalah\ncandles that are lit at the end; and Yahrzeit (memorial) candles lit on the\nanniversary of the death of a loved one. There were also a variety of dreidels,\nor four-sided spinning tops, and Hanukkah gelt (money) in the form of gold\nfoil\u2013covered chocolate coins. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God said,\n\u201cLet there be Light\u201d; and now in every synagogue, an eternal light (ner tamid)\nhangs above the ark that houses the Torah scrolls. Francine sang \u201cLight One\nCandle,\u201d and Renee-Noelle Felice led everyone in singing a round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kwanzaa\u2014Akosua\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kwanzaa uses light to celebrate spirituality, family values, and\ncommunity responsibility. Akosua explained the traditions of Kwanzaa, an\nAfrican-American celebration started in the 1960s to recognize and honor people\u2019s\nAfrican and American identities. Kwanzaa is observed from December 26 to\nJanuary 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are seven principles of Kwanzaa, which are represented by\nseven candles: three red candles for the blood shed to claim freedom, one black\ncandle for African heritage, and three green candles to represent the gifts of\nthe earth. The seven principles are unity, self-determination, work, economic\ninterdependence, purpose, creativity, and faith. The items used to celebrate Kwanzaa\nshould be handmade, as should gifts given to others. The final day of Kwanzaa,\nKaramu, is celebrated with a feast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Islam\u2014Danya Wellmon & Magda Bayoumi<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Qur’an tells us that \u201cGod is the light of the heavens and the earth.\u201d This light is spiritual, independent of the physical restrictions of space and time. Danya explained that angels were created from light. She displayed information about Ramadan, the hajj, and light shining from minarets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Danya introduced several Pakistani women<\/strong>\nwho wore beautiful ethnic dresses and demonstrated traditional singing,\ndrumming and clapping, such as are done at weddings. Danya played a tape of Yusuf\nIslam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, singing \u201cGod is the Light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Magda wore an all-white hajj\noutfit. She explained that all the men\u2014and many of the women\u2014on hajj wear the\nsame outfit, symbolizing that despite human differences of wealth or power, all\nbelievers are equal before God. The clothes of both men and women fully cover\nthe body and are loose and flowing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wicca\u2014Terra\nHarmatuk & Julie Statzler <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Terra and Julie created a festive table, arranged in celebration\nof the winter solstice. They showed us a decorated Yule log. They explained the\nmeaning of four candles that symbolize the four directions and denote the classic\nelements and attributes: a yellow candle (east) that represents air, mind and\nknowledge; a blue candle (west), water and emotions; a green candle (north),\nearth; and a red candle (south), spirit and fire. They showed us other candles that\nrepresent the aspects of the Goddess: a white candle, the maiden; a red candle,\nthe mother; a black candle, the crone. Two other candles denote the aspects of\nGod: red for the Holly King and green for the Oak King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the traditions provided handouts for us to take with us. We\nrejoiced in each other\u2019s unique celebrations and values, yet came away\nimpressed by how much we all have in common. We left energized in mind and\nheart, still savoring the flavors, sights and sounds of our gathering. We truly\nare the light in each other\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We were energized in mind and heart as we savored the flavors, sights and sounds of our gathering. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[30,15,22,16,17,31],"class_list":["post-7658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-programs","tag-bahai","tag-christianity","tag-hinduism","tag-islam","tag-judaism","tag-wicca",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8598,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7658\/revisions\/8598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}