My Calendar
Week of Nov 17th
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16/11/2020(3 events) Diwali - the festival of light! Diwali is the four- to five-day long Festival of Lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. One of the most popular dates on the Hindu calendar, Diwali symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness, and takes place each year between October and November after the conclusion of harvest and to coincide with the new moon. During the celebration, streets, homes, offices and shops are illuminated with light, which acts as a metaphor for knowledge and consciousness. Over the five-day period of the festival, people prepare by cleaning and decorating their homes. The festivities reach their peak on the third day, Diwali, which falls on the darkest day of the Hindu lunar month, Kartik. On this day, revellers dress up, light up their homes with oil lamps and candles (diyas) and worship Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth. They also light fireworks and enjoy a feast with their family, sharing mithai (sweets) and gifts.
Here's a video of how different this festival might be in time of COVID-19!
A PRAYER FOR DIWALI
Light shines in darkness. Light takes away darkness. Light brings hope.
God of light, when things seem difficult or when we’re frightened or sad, and good is stronger than bad. AMEN Transgender Awareness Week International Day for Tolerance International Day for Tolerance Here's a quite wonderful video (4 mins 17 secs) Which of these people do you:
Perhaps tolerance is a simple as following the teaching of Jesus to "Treat others as you'd like to be treated!"
A PRAYER FOR TODAY While the United Nations designates today an International Day for Tolerance, we know that you, God of all people, call us to something higher, to something beyond mere tolerance. We pray that you would enable and empower us to be people of love and compassion, who actively seek the good of the other and work to to that day when people from all tribes and tongues might come together in peace, embracing and delighting in our differences. Amen
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17/11/2020(1 event) Transgender Awareness Week |
18/11/2020(1 event) Transgender Awareness Week |
19/11/2020(3 events) Transgender Awareness Week International Men's Day Imagine a group of people whose members:
They're shocking statistics, aren't they? By the way, the group in question is MEN! WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? (1 mins 53 secs)
This is an INTERESTING TAKE ON WHAT IT IS TO BE A MAN (2 mins 58 secs) A PRAYER FOR TODAY (available as a 1 minute video HERE) Loving God, we hold before you especially today - the men in our lives; help all of us to deepen our understanding of gender roles and expectations; that we might live life in all its fullness, building families, communities, societies and a world of openness and acceptance. Help us not to be bound by stereotypes but to enjoy the diverse nature of every human being.
We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
World Toilet Day Did you know that:
All of the above is not because we don't have the technology! After all, human beings went to the Moon over 50 years ago! Do we, and the governments who serve us, need to re-align some priorities?
Let's spend a few moments imagining what it must feel like not to have a toilet. What might you have to do if there was no toilet available? Why might this have a disproportionate effect on females? What are the possible consequences of not having a toilet?
A PRAYER FOR TODAY (from CAFOD) Loving God, we pray for a world of justice where everyone has access to a toilet and clean water. May all our sisters and brothers throughout the world be able to live in the dignity they deserve as children created in your image. Amen
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20/11/2020(3 events) Transgender Day of Remembrance World Children’s Day Welcome to World Children's Day! This used to be called Universal Children's Day but the day has been re-branded! This day was set up in 1954 by the United Nations. In 1959, the UN agreed its Declaration on the Rights of the Child. In 1989 the Convention on the Rights of the Child became the most widely ratified international human rights treaty, setting out a number of children’s rights including:
Here's a short but brilliant video (1 min 17 secs) from the children of Yemen!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY (available here as a 1:00 minute video) Loving God, Jesus said "Let the children come to me" and so we pray for children around the world, that they will feel loved, valued, cared for and encouraged.
We pray for adults that they will enable children to enjoy a childhood they can look back on happily.
We pray too that all of us acknowledge each other - whatever our differences - as children made in your image, who deserve to be treated with dignity and love.
We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
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21/11/2020
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22/11/2020
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