My Calendar

16/11/2020

Diwali - the festival of light!

Diwali - the festival of light!


12/11/2020 16/11/2020

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, 
help us to remember that light is stronger than darkness,

and good is stronger than bad.

AMEN

Diwali - the festival of light!

Diwali - the festival of light!


12/11/2020 16/11/2020

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, 
help us to remember that light is stronger than darkness,

and good is stronger than bad.

AMEN

Diwali - the festival of light!

Diwali - the festival of light!


12/11/2020 16/11/2020

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, 
help us to remember that light is stronger than darkness,

and good is stronger than bad.

AMEN

Diwali - the festival of light!

Diwali - the festival of light!


12/11/2020 16/11/2020

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, 
help us to remember that light is stronger than darkness,

and good is stronger than bad.

AMEN

Diwali - the festival of light!

Diwali - the festival of light!


12/11/2020 16/11/2020

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, 
help us to remember that light is stronger than darkness,

and good is stronger than bad.

AMEN

International Day for Tolerance

International Day for Tolerance


16/11/2020

International Day for Tolerance 

Here's a quite wonderful video (4 mins 17 secs)

Which of these people do you:

  • most admire?
  • most agree with?
  • most want to be like?

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