Delray Beach Interfaith Clergy Association president the Rev. Kathleen Gannon of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (right) , with Maya Malay. Photo by C.B. Hanif
Once again (and be thankful you can’t hear me sing it), “It’s that most wonderful time of the year.”
At Jewish temples around South Florida — indeed, around the world — congregations are preparing for Hanukkah. The holiday commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. Thus this year’s Dec. 2-9 celebration, and the traditional designation, “Festival of Lights.”
Christian congregations here and worldwide are readying for Christmas Day, Dec. 25. Ministers and lay people alike are working to keep us focused past the commercialism of the holiday to its true spirit, seen in that wonderful teacher Christ Jesus, his miraculous birth to the virgin mother Mary, the miracles he himself performed, and his message and example that provide ageless instruction, regardless of one’s background.
Meanwhile, the Delray Beach Interfaith Clergy Association kicked off the winter holidays with the second annual Interfaith Harvest Festival, Nov. 14, at Abbey Delray South. Once again the clergy group, of which I am a vice president, gathered the most spiritually diverse folks I’ve seen around these parts for an evening of dinner and interfaith sharing, at no cost other than donations for the food pantry at CROS (Christians Reaching Out to Society) Ministries.
We need a lot more such gatherings, of course, which brings me to this year’s hajj, the largest annual gathering of people in the world. This year the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, drew an estimated 3.5 million worshipers at its high point, Nov. 15.
Muslims who are healthy and can afford to are called on to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetimes. The height of the Hajj is the Day of Arafat, a daylong communion with God in the desert outside Mecca, as the pilgrims — men wearing only two pieces of white linen, a reminder that all are equal before God — seek forgiveness and offer prayers for family, friends and humanity.
The next day is the major holiday Eid al-Adha, signifying a return to our human innocence, like a newborn baby free of sins. This year, members of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton again made a point of inviting the public to its Eid celebrations, as others increasingly are doing.
There isn’t space here to list or expound on all the winter holidays.
But beyond the gatherings of families and friends, perhaps the best achievement is that folks of different faiths — or claiming no particular faith — increasingly are participating in the celebration of other traditions.
The sharing and caring, and the remembrance that “the other” is one of our fellow human beings, may be the best message of any season.
C.B. Hanif is a writer and inter-religious affairs consultant. Find him at www.interfaith21.com
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