Thanksgiving Eve Celebration

Once again this year I joined the Rev. Paul Gaffney and the folks at Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy for a Thanksgiving Eve celebration with the homeless population of our city.  A significant part of the ceremony is the gathering of offerings -- primarily sleeping bags and socks -- and blessing them for their use in keeping people warm and cozy through the cold, wet winter months.

Some of the ritual contributions, mostly drumming, poetry, and singing, came from the homeless population.  I've come to know a few of them over the years and to appreciate their talents.  In particular, we have enjoyed the singing of Cup Bach Pham, a woman from Southeast Asia.

Among the religious leaders who participated were Fr. John Balleza, the new priest at Church of St. Raphael and Mission San Rafael Arcangel; Dr. Laura Stivers, a religion and philosophy professor at Dominican University; Qayyum Johnson from Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center, the Rev. Dr. Curran Reichert of Community Congregational Church of Tiburon (site of the 9/11 Contemplative Service for Peace reported on earlier); the Rev. Dr. Liza Klein of San Rafael First United Methodist Church; and others.

Most touching, to me, was a personal story told by Clair Mikowski from Congregation Rodef Shalom about her parents' immigration to this country and some of the things her mother taught her.  She delivered this story on the day her mother would have turned 100 years old.

Among the musical offerings, Taneen, from the International Association of Sufism, sang an evocative sacred chant.  They have performed at MIC events in the past and I always look forward to hearing them.

Corby usually accompanies me to this annual event and sings with me.  This year he was away for the holiday.  I was fortunate in that my friend Gwion from North Bay Reclaiming joined me as a Pagan presence.  I told an abbreviated version of the story of the abduction of Kore, later called Persephone, by Hades and the searching and grief of her mother, Demeter.  It's a familiar story to many non-Pagans, and since we are celebrating harvest and the fruits of field, orchard, and barnyard, it seems perfect.  We followed the brief story by singing "Demeter's Song" by Starhawk.  I love the song.  I love the melody and harmonies.  And I especially love the theology, or worldview, it illustrates.

After the service we moved to a room nearby to share seasonal comestibles.

Finding Spiritual Kin

I want to mention Chris Highland, the fiancé of Carol Hovis, Director of Marin Interfaith Council. I like him a lot. We’ve chatted, and I told both him and Corby that I’d like them to meet, I think they have a lot in common. He was at the Visionary Marin event honoring Isabel Allende I attended.

I recently discovered that he was once chaplain of the Marin Interfaith Street Chaplaincy here in San Rafael. This group co-sponsors, with MIC, "Shelter from the Storm," an interfaith service for the homeless in San Rafael on the eve of Thanksgiving. That’s the event in preparation for which I’ve been bugging some of you about singing “Demeter’s Song.” Corby and I have readied ourselves to sing it tonight at this service. We’ll also offer is as a grace at tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner at my sister Catherine’s house -- the first since our mother's death this past May.

Evidently, Chris also has experience as a prison chaplain, and since I'm prepared to accept a long-standing invitation -- nay, plea -- to visit some inmates at nearby San Quentin the minute I learn that pending litigation has been settled, this is another area I'd enjoy discussing with him.

Chris sent this. I think you'll resonate with his sentiments, as do I.

I am ever so thankful that we have a new administration going into The White House.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!