Harvest Festival & Thanksgivings

The gathering of crops and preparation for the coming winter is traditionally celebrated in most cultures by enjoying the abundance of provisions and rest from cultivation and harvesting. In religious services thanks are given for blessings received and requests for future mercy:

Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

~ English harvest hymn, 1844, Henry Alford

Thanksgiving by US artist Norman Rockwell

Thai Pongal decorations

Barbados Crop Over

Treat the Earth well: it was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.

~ Native American proverb

Sukkot tents, Jerusalem

Chinese Moon Cake

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

~ poem, ee cummings

Plan Internation and Universal Birth Registration

Plan International is an international children’s charity working for children in poverty. They have just completed a four year campaign to register over 40 million people who did not previously have birth certificates or documentation:

A birth certificate protects children and gives them access to:

• education
• healthcare
• property, and more

Plan’s campaign is ensuring more children receive birth certificates for:

• easier access to education & healthcare
• protection against child labour & child marriage
• defence against abuse & child trafficking

On Monday the organisation held a conference in London to raise awareness of the issues facing the world’s ’invisible’ children:

The conference, Count Every Child, will convene a critical audience of government representatives, policy makers, researchers, practitioners and donors and offers the opportunity to hear from leading experts from Harvard University, UN agencies, Interpol and others to debate the issues and make recommendations for achieving universal birth registration.

UNICEF estimates 51 million vulnerable children worldwide born every year still do not receive birth certificates, and the issue is articles 7 and 8 in the 1989 International Convention on the Rights of the Child :

Article 7 (Registration, name, nationality, care): All children have the right to a legally registered name,

officially recognised by the government. Children have the right to a nationality (to belong to a country).

Children also have the right to know and, as far as possible, to be cared for by their parents.

Article 8 (Preservation of identity): Children have the right to an identity – an official record of who they

are. Governments should respect children’s right to a name, a nationality and family ties.

Whatever you do for one of the least of others, you do for me.

~ Jesus

Whoever is kind to the creatures of God is kind to himself.

~ Mohammed

Patriarch Pavle 1914-2009

The spiritual head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in former Yugoslavia died yesterday age 95; he was ordained as Patriarch in 1990 after a lifetime of service but had been in declining health for some time.

He was known as a man of simplicity and humility, refusing to purchase a car saying he did not wish to own one until every other adult in Serbia had one.

Today is the first of three days’ official mourning in Serbia. When 40 days have passed the Holy Synod will elect a successor, until then Metropolitan Amfilohije will act as leader as he has done during the Patriarch’s sickness. The Serbian Orthodox Church has 7 million members, the largest religion in the country representing about 85 % of the population.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.

~ Saul of Tarsus, Bible, Galatians 5: 22-23

 

Text: The Charter for Compassion

A call to bring the world together…

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

Sign the charter

Brian D McLaren

Pastor, author, musician, speaker and modern Christian activist Brian McLaren is on the Board of directors for Sojourners, the Christian social justice magazine and movement, and was a founder member of Red Letter Christians, red letters being the printed words reported as spoken by Jesus in the New Testament.

He is part of a growing number of Christians concerned that christian evangelism has often been manipulative and exclusive, and that some issues, such as interfaith or relationships, are overemphasised whilst official church policies do not reflect the true teachings or values of Jesus.

I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish contexts … rather than resolving the paradox via pronouncements on the eternal destiny of people more convinced by or loyal to other religions than ours, we simply move on … To help Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and everyone else experience life to the full in the way of Jesus (while learning it better myself), I would gladly become one of them (whoever they are), to whatever degree I can, to embrace them, to join them, to enter into their world without judgment but with saving love as mine has been entered by the Lord.

~ from A Generous Orthodoxy, 2004

His next book is due out in February 2010 and tackles the ten issues which McLaren sees as important for defining and redefining the Christian faith, including homosexuality:

While people have vigorously and sometimes viciously debated isolated verses in Leviticus, Romans, and 1 Corinthians (versus which, I explain in the book, may have very little or nothing to do with contemporary understandings of sexual orientation) … Acts 8 was waiting with a story that is more powerful than many have realized.

~ June 2009

And as they went on, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said ‘look, water; what prevents me to be baptized?’ And Philip said ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

~ Bible, Acts 8:36-39

We want to be a safe and accepting place for people, whatever their background. We believe that without a conscious pursuit of diversity we will tend to fall back into our “looks like me” comfort zone. We reach out to a wide variety of people and encourage them to explore their questions and progress in their spiritual journey at their own pace. We welcome them with their unique blends of experiences, gifts, challenges, and insights, believing that we will be enriched as a community by the contributions of each individual.

~ from ‘Our Values’, Cedar Ridge Community Church in Maryland, started in 1982 by Brian McLaren and friends

Halloween

All-Hallows-Even or the night before All Saints Day on the Christian calendar is a secular festival where people dress up, decorate their homes, tell stories, share party food and carve pumpkins into scary masks:

Children go door-to-door collecting candy and trinkets, known as ‘trick or treat’ across Canada, the US, much of Europe and more recently in  Japan and India.

Costumes, props and foods have become big business, over $5 billion in the US alone this year!

Though most people do not see the festival as having any spiritual or religious significance, in some conservative churches congregants are encouraged not to participate and some churches hold a ’safe house’ event instead without the gothic costumes or reference to ghosts or death.

 

 

Angela Montez

On Monday an Indianapolis loan store clerk was robbed by 23 year old Gregory Smith; victim Angela Montez, who admits she was terrified, responded by talking and listening to the gun-wielding desperate man, praying with him and hugging him.

He gave Ms Montez the bullet from his gun, left with just $20, and later handed himself in to police.

The big-hearted lady said in a news interview:

I believe that the Lord sent us both together. It touched me, and it brought back religion that I’ve kind of let loose. This is pitiful these young men feel like they have nothing and nowhere to turn to. If you have a company … give these people a chance.

praying together

The story has moved people across America.

You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how does that help anyone?

~ Bible, Matthew 5: 43-47

 

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Nikkō Tōshō-gū, Japan

The three monkeys are Mizaru, who covers his eyes and sees no evil; Kikazaru who covers his ears to hear no evil; and Iwazaru with a hand over his mouth to speak no evil. They are symbols of the eastern Kōshin faith which is influenced by Shintō, Taoism and Buddhism and the proverb is interpreted both as a Japanese version of the Golden Rule and as a warning not to gossip or behave badly.

Mahatma Ghandi’s only possessions at his ashram were three small figures of the wise monkeys; in 2005 Indian sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik won the Berlin International Sand Festival first prize with his  representation of Ghandi and the monkeys symbolising world peace:

Diwali

The Festival of Lights in Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain religions signifies the triumph of good over evil in each person, it is celebrated all over the world with displays of colour, fireworks, candles and oil lamps. Although one of the five days is often observed as a fast it is also a time of feasting, large communal vegetarian meals are served and especially sweet treats.

Barack Obama became the first US President to publically acknowledge the festival by lighting a ceremonial lamp at The White House last week.

Jalebi Recipe

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup yogurt
• cooking oil for deep frying
• 1 cup sugar
• strands saffron
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 drops orange food colour
• 2 tbsps rose water

Preparation:

• Mix the flour, baking powder and yogurt into a batter and keep aside for 24 hours to ferment.
• Pour batter into a squeezy-plastic condiment bottle.
• To make sugar syrup: Melt the sugar with the rose water and boil to get a one thread consistency. To check for one thread consistency, carefully dip the tip of your index finger into the syrup, touch your finger and thumb together and genly tease apart. If one thread is formed between your finger and thumb the syrup is done.
• Turn off fire, add the saffron strands and cardamom and stir well.
• Heat the oil in a deep wok-like dish. To test for the right temperature, drop a small amount of batter into the oil. If it sizzles and rises to the top of the oil, the oil is hot enough. Keep the flame on medium at all times to ensure all round cooking of the jalebis.
• Now hold the ketchup dispenser over the hot oil and squeeze the batter into the oil into a wiggly, randomly coiled circle. Squeeze out several at a time.
• Fry till light golden and then remove and put directly into the sugar syrup.
• Allow to soak for 2-3 minutes and then remove
• Serve immediately

Shrine of Bahá’u'lláh

In the Bahá’í religion the most holy spot is the burial place of the remains of the Prophet Bahá’u'lláh in Acre near Haifa in northern Israel:

This is the direction followers pray towards in their daily prayers, known as their Qiblih. The dead are buried facing the Quiblih also. It is a place of pilgrimage for followers.

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.

~ Bahá’u'lláh