by Carole Anne Scott

This year, as participants gathered on Sunday, November 21, at 4:00 p.m. for the area's annual interfaith. Thanksgiving service, the seasonable weather of a raw and gray November day made it feel like winter was indeed approaching and the harvest was truly concluded. Once again, diverse religious communities from Hyde Park, Roslindale, and West Roxbury came together to worship at what was presented as "an interfaith gathering of singing, celebration and prayer."

Moving from Roslindale back to West Roxbury, this year's service was held in the lovely sanctuary of the Theodore Parker Unitarian Universalist Church. Despite the gathering darkness of Eastern Standard Time, the church's magnificent Tiffany windows glowed in vibrant hues of purple-blue irises, iridescent morning glories, and majestic green hills, a beautiful sight for worshippers to admire.

Those attending enjoyed a musical treat as the Theodore Parker Singers opened the program by performing a spirited rendition of the moving hymn, "Gather the Spirit." Appropriately, the lyrics referred to gathering "to celebrate once again" in "peace, thanks, sympathy, hope, compassion, and strength." The congregation then joined in signing the traditional favorite, "Come, Ye Thankful People Come," thereby raising its own "song of harvest home."

A warm welcome was extended to those present by the Church's pastor, Rev. Lilii Nye, who referred to the members of the diverse congregations as "fellow seekers of the light of spiritual truth," and urged them "to learn from and celebrate each other."

To aid in that effort, she then requested that the participants greet one another. Immediately the church was filled with loud and excited chatter as strangers introduced themselves and told each other a little bit about themselves.

Immediately following, Rev. Eric Beene of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church gave the invocation. His words were perfectly suited for the intent of the day as he offered that we should "... be the spirit of love, compassion and understanding ... and pray in the name of all that is holy and for the sake of all that is worthy and good."

In perfect sync with the theme of the service, worshippers then joined the Theodore Parker Folk Ensemble in singing the beautiful and renowned Shaker hymn, "Simple Gifts." Returning to the lectern, Rev. Beene then read a passage from Herman Hesse's novel, "Sidhartha." The moving words described Sidhartha's ability to hear all the diverse voices of life, their goals and yearnings, both good and evil, sorrowful and joyful and to realize that taken together, they could be summed up in the one word, perfection. The theme of finding perfection in differences was very appropriate for people from varied faith backgrounds.

The Theodore Parker Singers then returned to inspire the congregation with "How can I Keep from Singing?" a hymn which asks that question in response to all the good that God does for us. As a follow-up to those themes, Rabbi Barbara Penzner of West Roxbury's Temple Hillel B'nai Torah read the words to Psalm 100 in Hebrew and in English. This psalm demands: "Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands ...Know that the Lord is God; he made us, his we are...Give thanks to him; bless his name for he is God: the Lord whose kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations."

Rev. Penzner reminded the congregation that "...we come together to forget the things that divide us and to remember the things that unite us." In that spirit of unity, the Rabbi, again this year, led the entire group in singing a Hebrew song. Under her tutelage, all assembled were soon joining in the catchy tune "Hava Nashira Hallelujah" as a round in three parts!

Again in keeping with tradition established at other recent interfaith Thanksgiving services, Holy Name's pastor, Msgr. George Carlson, and its pastoral associate, Ms. Fran Hauck, led those assembled in an antiphonal reading of the litany, "Our Town," in which the group prayed for "our town, our neighbors, safety, peace, our workers, our religious leaders, homes for all, healing, and unity." In a unifying spirit perfect for an interfaith service, the litany concludes with the words: "Lord God of many names, and no name at all, you speak and call a word that needs an answer, a name that invites love and gives it. Fill our hearts with good words for each other, so that your life may be visible in us forever."

In a moving tribute, young Sacred Heart student Jennifer Hart, accompanied on the guitar by her Dad Bill, sang out "Malo, Malo, Thanks he to God," a hymn which praises God in fourteen different languages from all over the world, including Spanish, Italian and Japanese.

Fresh from their linguistic excursions around the globe, participants were then taken back in time to the first Thanksgiving as Sacred Heart pastoral associate, Sr. Virginia Bobrowski, read a passage from Edward Winslow's December 21, 1621 letter home to England, recounting the Pilgrim's first Thanksgiving. Detailed in its description of the Plimoth colony's humble beginnings, the missive revealed how the Pilgrims had planted a full twenty acres of corn and six of

barley and peas, reaping a bountiful harvest from the former, but a meager one from the sun-parched peas. It described their use of the plentiful herrings for fertilizer, and detailed the killing of enough fowl by four Pilgrim hunters to feed the settlement for a week.

Extending an invitation to the Native Americans to join them, the Pilgrims sat down to the first Thanksgiving dinner accompanied by Massasoit and about 90 of his men. Grateful guests, they contributed five deer to the feast. Mr. Winslow assured his reader that "...the Indians are faithful in the covenant of peace with us," stating that they were "...as safe here as on any highway of England." Portraying the full extent of his contentedness, he added, "I never in my life remember a more seasonable time than this year."

Sister Virginia then asked all present to contribute generously to the offering, which was taken up to benefit three local food banks. During the collection, the Theodore Parker Folk Ensemble led everyone in a spirited rendition of Woodie Guthrie's ever popular "This Land is Your Land."

In the closing benediction, Rev. Paul Phinn from West Roxbury's St. John Chrysostom Church offered that although he had been born many years ago only a half a mile from the Theodore Parker, this was the very first time he had ever been inside the church! Stating that he was "very pleased to be here tonight with all of you," Rev. Phinn urged that "among the many .things we share is the need to give thanks to God." He then quoted what he described as the perfect blessing, that of God to Moses, the famous "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace." To that he added, "May the Lord indeed bless us this Thanksgiving week and all the days of our lives together."

The service concluded with the recessional hymn, "The Trees of the Field," which states, "You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace ...There'll be shouts of joy, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands while you go out with joy."

Notably absent from this year's service was the usual homily. In its place, the added prayers and songs seemed sufficient testimony to the breadth and depth of ideas, ideals, and themes that needed to be expressed.

A wonderful opportunity for fellowship was provided as participants in the service gathered for abundant refreshments in the Parish Hall that included every course imaginable from hors d'oeuvres to dinner items such as baked ham to dessert. Commenting on the bountiful feast provided, we were told by Theodore Parker members that they are a very food-oriented congregation. We certainly were grateful beneficiaries of their hospitality.

Congregations participating in this year's service included Bethany First United Methodist Church, Emrnanuel Episcopal Church of West Roxbury, Holy Name Church, Hope Church, Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, Iglesia Latinoamericana, Sacred Heart Church, St. John Chrysostom Church, St. Theresa of Avila Church, Stratford Street United Church, Temple Hillel B'nai Torah, and of course, host parish, Theodore Parker Unitarian Universalist Church.

The beauty of the liturgy and the fellowship shared between people of different and varied faiths left all with yet another reason to give thanks during this season of Thanksgiving.