Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People. Now our minds are one. . . .

Opening Words by Steve Ewart, Worship Committee

Good morning. Traditionally at Thanksgiving we hear about Europeans coming to America. But we are not just a nation of Pilgrims whose lineage may be traced to the Mayflower; America today is much more diverse. We are immigrants from Europe, of course, but we are also natives, invaded and dismissed; we are Africans, kidnapped and enslaved; we are Asians, Latin Americans, and others, struggling to find a place. But please, don’t leave; we aren’t focusing on our checkered American history, but on “American Voices” today.

As an after-school mentor for the ESOL program for immigrant children living in Arlington, Virginia, I help about 30 students navigate their way through their Anglo-middle-school course curricula. Let me set the table. It is November and my 7th graders, Lula and Gabriella, must learn their Pilgrim history lesson. Lula is from Eritrea. Eritrea is a new country that split off from Ethiopia in Africa. It borders on the Red Sea and is 50% Christian and 50% Moslem. Lula told me that her family’s religious beliefs made it difficult for them to live in Eritrea. So, her family fled to Arlington– their new haven. Lula’s father was a medical doctor in Eritrea, but works as a hospital nurse until he passes his boards for his medical license.

Gabriella left her mother and father, brothers and sisters behind in Guatemala for the United States and lives with her mother’s sister in Arlington. Gabriella’s aunt thinks she is wild, and she worries about the attention Gabriella receives from boys.

Lula and Gabriella must learn about the Pilgrim journey for a Friday test. I tell them about the Pilgrims in England trying to practice a reformed religion. But the English didn’t like the Pilgrims or their religion; some were beaten and killed. Lula’s eyes understood. The Pilgrims fled to Holland, but they weren’t happy. Why, you ask? Because Holland was a strange land to the Pilgrims. They didn’t know the language, the customs; and the food was strange. Both Lula’s and Gabriella’s eyes lit up. For them, it’s like living in Arlington.

Lula and Gabriella learn about the Pilgrim’s voyage to America. Both of them understand traveling long distances from their native countries. They learn of the Pilgrim suffering during their first winter. How they needed food and warmth. Lula’s and Gabriella’s eyes show they understand. Then they learn the Pilgrims survived that winter, and native Americans showed them how to plant fields and hunt wild game. In the fall, the Pilgrims gathered their food, invited the native Americans, and held a feast – thankful for their bounty, their food. The Pilgrims ate turkey, as did Lula and Gabriella in November 2004 on their first Thanksgiving. Cranberry sauce? For Gabriella, it was too sour; and CORN…Corn is a staple in Lula’s and Gabriella’s former countries.

As with Lula and Gabriella, we are setting a table to include all who live in America, so that we can hear their thoughts and experiences of being in America. We gather as former Europeans, Africans, Latin Americans, and Asians and we sit with some whose great grandmothers or great great grandfathers were Native Americans. We will share ethnic and indigenous American breads with you all, and as in our own, uniquely different ways, we may be thankful for being here today.

Calling the Bread: Rev. Sydney Wilde

Just as our ancestors brought with them a rich heritage, they also brought their traditional foods and recipes. Bread, often called the staff of life, comes in many varieties from around the world there is Pita bread, French bread, Sourdough, Limpa, Tortillas, Parathas, Bohemian Rolickys, Pumpkin Bread, Challah, and Panetone, to name only a few. We have invited some members of our congregation to bring examples of the traditional breads baked and served in their families. These breads represent the various cultures which inform and enrich our lives. We invite our bakers now to come forward and place their bread, here on our “Welcome Table”

Reading: Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Reflection: “The New Pilgrims” by Ana Burgess

It’s a chilly November morning. Time to figure out how big the Turkey has to be for the number of people that will sit around our table. I can never remember the formula, it was not passed down to my parents from their parents, in fact, I am the first one in my family to have adopted the tradition of celebrating this holiday.

I was 17 when I moved to this Country. The first few years I was invited to people’s homes for Thanksgiving. To tell you the truth I was never sure what exactly we were celebrating, but I was always thankful for the invitation and the good food. As I started my own family and my sister moved closer to us, I started hosting Thanksgiving at my house, always inviting people from all walks of life, some of which would have just slept in and enjoyed the day off without much celebration.

Just like I remember other people doing, we’d go around the table saying what we were all thankful for, friends, food, jobs, family, health or even great pie. As the kids got older and stories came from school, I learned about the pilgrims, the Mayflower and all the ships that came after. The history of the holiday slowly started taking shape in my mind… a long trek from far away in crowded vessels followed by difficult times and many deaths. Hopes of free self expression, a new world, a new start and fertile soil that would render them a good life.

About a month ago, I took my friends Patricia and Alejandro to see the beautiful sights of Great Falls Park. They are on a temporary assignment from the Mexican embassy. Alejandro works in the immigration department of the embassy. As we walked down the trails, I listened to the stories of what Alejandro’s job entails. He has visited the areas where people enter this country from Mexico.

Many come all the way from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua or even farther crossing all of Mexico by foot, hitch hiking as they go. It takes them months. Once near the border, they find a way to cross by getting packed on a bus, truck or van like sardines, one on top of another. Once they cross, they have to run across the desert, dehydrated bodies left behind. Survivors keep going, fueled only by their hopes of a new world, a new start, fertile soil that would render them a new life. I can’t help but wonder if this is another way in which History repeats itself. The Native Americans and the Pilgrims had to adjust to each other and had to learn how to get along. They helped each other, they fought each other and at the end, they learned to accept each other.

The most interesting aspect of this country is the fact that it is formed by Native Americans and people from the world. I recently found out that the Native Americans used to celebrate a day of Harvest and the Pilgrims had a religious celebration in which they fasted followed by a feast. It is still unclear to me exactly how the Thanksgiving holiday truly got started, but it seems that those of us who come into this country from other countries are following the tradition. This thanksgiving I give thanks to those who were here first, to those who came and founded the country, to those who continue coming and bringing new hopes and to those who are working hard to recognize the new pilgrims.

Reflection: “Thanksgiving: An Indian Experience” by Kusum and Alan Krishnan

India, the land of our birth and home until about 20 years ago, has more diversity than Europe, and so there is no one thanksgiving prayer or holiday that is practiced nationwide. India is also a land of several religions, the major ones being Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and Judaism. Obviously each religious following has its own flavor of prayer, and thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving as we know it here in the United States is very American, and anything similar to this in other parts of the world is an American influence. What we are presenting today is our personal and family experience in Thanksgiving. Kusum and I grew up in very different families, from different states in India (which might as well be different countries in Europe!) and so our own experience was also very different until we were married and our experiences started blending to evolve into something new and different, quite unknown to both our natal families!

KUSUM: I grew up in a very liberal household where we all did our own thing as far as religion was concerned. But both my parents always emphasized the importance of giving thanks for all that we have, and I knew I had a lot to be thankful for. Instead of once a year, at least once a day, after his bath I listened to my father say “sarve janaha sukhino bhavantu; samasta sanmangalani bhavatu”. May all people live in peace; Let tranquility and harmony spread everywhere. This was our prayer of thanks.

ALAN: When I was growing up, my prayers’ “Guru” was my paternal grandfather, who was a very religious man and in some sense of the word, almost a Priest. He was very well educated for his times, having used street lamps for illumination as he studied and wrote on books using pencils, so he could erase the writing and re-use the paper. By the time he was in his 40’s he was very successful, in business for himself, running a corporation and very affluent by those times. He had a lot to be grateful for and every waking moment he acknowledged his gratitude with his prayers that were predominantly of gratitude and thankfulness. He was also very generous and helped every one in need that he came across, be it for religious, educational or social causes. He did not know Sanskrit, the spiritual language of India.

So he did his prayers in Tamil, quite often not understanding what the prayers are all about. Over the years he read books in Tamil and understood the meaning of his prayers and passed on his learning to those he came in contact with.

I do not know Sanskrit, and neither do I read Tamil. So I grew up even more handicapped than my grandfather. So he taught me very simple prayers that would take only a few minutes and in essence achieve the same objectives of the ritualistic and elaborate prayers that several persons practiced. Prayer in India is not scheduled for one day a week, it is a daily event, quite often twice a day. My grandfather taught me this simple prayer, which has evolved over the years:

O Lord, thank you for everything you have given me

May I always share everything I have with others, living as your custodian of what you have entrusted to my care

May I always lead a life with the basic essentials I enjoy today

Thank you for my family, may they live as good citizens and custodians of what you have entrusted to their care

May my employer be successful and lead an honorable life helping those in need

May the world at large become a better place, with good people becoming better and bad people becoming less bad

O Lord, thank you for everything you have given me

About 20 years ago, we moved to the United States and experienced Thanksgiving as a dedicated annual holiday. Our thoughts always went to the Turkeys who had little to be thankful for, but over the years we grew to understand that there is a purpose in everything. Being vegetarians, we have always been creative with our observance of Thanksgiving and this has evolved as we became more creative. We have always tried to inculcate some degree of thankfulness in the observance, so the focus is not totally on food. However, this changed last year when the major focus became food.

KUSUM: Our niece Priya, who lives in New York City, became engaged to John, who grew up in Kansas City. They came to our home for Thanksgiving 2005. Our son Bharat, who is a non-vegetarian and eats meat whenever he gets the opportunity, got all excited. First, he is a number one fan of Priya and John and they all get along splendidly – so he was excited. PLUS, since John was visiting and he ate meat, Bharat persuaded us to cook a whole turkey for lunch. So we relented and for the first time in our lives, the bird came home. Up until this time we had almost always had an Italian Thanksgiving in that our children, who are not fans of Indian food, persuaded me to NOT cook Indian at least on this one holiday. But this year, yay, we were going to have an all American Thanksgiving meal! We bought a Thanksgiving Kit/Package from the grocery store, placing an advance order and collected the precious package the evening before. Meticulously we followed directions, read the cook books and did all we were told to. I had no idea that there would be this big plastic piece inside the bird that would have to be taken out. How I struggled with that! Water and fluids oozed from every where, I had no idea what was happening….. I used the packed filling, stuffing and everything else and thought I was doing a good job…..

Finally, we were all set with the Thanksgiving Feast. We had planned on eating some of the stuffing, but discovered that it also had meat products in it, so the majority of us just stayed with traditional vegetarian Thanksgiving Food that we had developed over the last two decades. The pride of place was of course held by the Turkey, which did not look as attractive and appealing as what we see on TV shows and cook shows…. but hey, this was our very first Turkey! John was asked to do the honors and carve the turkey so he and Bharat could eat to their heart’s content. He struggled, but got through it anyway, and we all started to eat.

ALAN: After a few minutes, we noticed that John was not eating much Turkey, and so hesitantly Kusum asked if it tasted very bad and was not up to what he is used to. Our son Bharat appeared to be doing okay, but we just assumed that he didn’t know any better. John blew us away by his answer – “Honestly, it is not the cooking – I just do not like Turkey and seldom eat it. My mom usually does not serve turkey at Thanksgiving!”

So we persuaded him to take a new plate, without any turkey and then Bharat took a new plate too, and said he was doing the best he could because he did not want John to discover that he did not enjoy it! Having cleared the air, and the table of turkey, we all ate rest of the meal with gusto and decided we shall not attempt anything as adventurous as this in the future.

KUSUM: Which brings us to Thanksgiving this year. Bharat is having three friends visiting us from Roanoke, VA where he grew up.. He wants to have Turkey, but wants to play it safe, by getting it completely prepared and ready to eat. So we are purchasing our Thanksgiving dinner at Trader Joe’s!

ALAN: And, now we shall end this with some Hindu prayers appropriate for our times:

The shanti mantras

Om sahanaavavatu

Sahanau bhunaktu

Saha viiryan karavaavahai

Tejasvi naavadhiitamastu

Maa vidvishhaavahai

Om shaantih shaantih shaantih

May we be protected together.

May we be nourished together.

May we work together with great vigor.

May our study be enlightening

May no obstacle arise between us

Om peace, peace, peace.

Praise and thanksgiving – Kenneth Patton and Dennis Daniel

Give praise to the Spirit of Love and Life that we live, men, women and children of the earth, under the sun, breathing this air, drinking this water.

Give praise that we are creatures that think, grow, remember and create.

Give praise that we can learn, searching the ways of nature, gleaning knowledge, science, and wisdom.

Give praise that we can love, weep, and laugh.

Give praise that we know we will die, for by this we know that we live.

Give praise that, of all creatures, we are enriched in being by our self-knowledge,.

Give praise that it is the way of nature for us to rejoice in these days that we have to live

Give praise that we belong to this beloved community, where we can know and be known.

Give praise that we have learned to give from the bounty of blessings we have received, for in giving we know gratitude, and in gratitude we know love.

Give praise that we are held in an intricate web of influences that both support and challenge us, and which we in our turn influence in ways we can never fully comprehend.

Give praise that what we know of the Sacred comes to us through our physical bodies, modeled in our connections of friendship and love.

Give praise to the Spirit of Love and Life.

So be it. Blessed be, Amen.

Thanksgiving Communion: (Excerpt from Litany for Strangers)

. . . in every generation, we have come to these shores as strangers.

And in every generation, there are those who scorned us because we were different.

And in every generation, there were those who locked away their possessions and hardened their hearts.

And in every generation, some few glorified mercy and took us in.

So in this season when Earth yields her bounty to all, let us imitate her generosity of spirit.

In this season when the life - giving sun seems almost to abandon us, let us make up the loss by sharing the warmth of our hearts.

In this season when we recount our gratitude:

Let us know that, when we give thanks what we give is love.

Breaking of the Bread:

Our common table is now laden with the breads of our many heritages, our many strains brought together. But bread, like life, must be broken to be whole, to fulfill a purpose, to embrace and nourish the bittersweet of life. We will now break the bread.

We bless these loaves,

we bless this bread we have in common with one another and with people all over the earth.

We bless the events, people and places and circumstances of our lives that feed us, sustain us, and nourish us.

Invitation:

From time immemorial, the sign of friendship and welcome reception of strangers has been the breaking and sharing of bread, together. We offer you this bread from our common table. Eat and enjoy our gathered company.

Closing Words

As we look forward toward this season of gratitude and to the madness of the holidays that follow it, try to remember that beneath all the tinsel and the artificial snowflakes, we can still find true values which sustain life. Do what you must to be in touch with what is important about our celebrations this winter; do what you must to be fed spiritually as well as physically; do what you must to come through the season energized rather than drained, so that you will then be able to go forth from this place of peace to be instruments of peace in our troubled world. The work goes on. So be it.