My granddaughter's Naming Service
Doug Wade
Two months ago I had the honor of reading a prayer at my granddaughter's naming service in Richmond, Virginia. It was a deeply moving event and an important milestone in our family's life.
kaco...@aol.com
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Ken
Thank you for sharing your story, Doug. Last night our greater community held York Vigil Against Hate. As a Facebook friend of mine, you can see the announcement for it which I shared with all my FB friends. In a matter of less than 48 hours, the seed was planted and the faith community decided to come forth, to speak out against the hatred that occurred at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and to show support for the York Jewish community, the Pittsburgh Jewish community and the Jewish community throughout our country.
The gathering took place at 8 PM in the courtyard of our City Hall. The Fall weather was perfect. I would estimate that somewhere between 300-500 people were present (maybe more), all coming to participate with little notice beforehand.
The atmosphere was set by one person leading the audience in a short song about bringing peace into your life, followed by a Buddhist chant said 3 times, and then leaders of at least 10 different faith and social justice communities coming forth to share their messages with the audience. The Mayor of York shared his message. Governor Wolf of Pennsylvania and his wife, who live in northern York County, showed up on short notice, and shared his message.
The messages spoken were varied – bringing light and peace into the world for each person, greeting every person one meets and telling them that you will never speak a word against them, prayers for forgiveness and seeking the wisdom of God, messages that the history of the Christian faith is responsible for spreading the lie about why Jesus was killed and which has led to anti-Semitism, messages that each of us is responsible for speaking out against hatred and overcoming hatred with love, messages that the violence and hatred against the Jewish community was also being committed almost at the same time against several members of the Black community in Kentucky and against fellow students at a high school (I believe in one of the Carolinas), a message that a way to show support for a faith community that is physically threatened is for your faith community to physically place themselves around their place of worship as they gather to worship, a message that the way to overcome the grief of the moment is with the sharing of stories, the sharing of food, the shedding of tears, and the ongoing support of the friends and community around you, and other messages.
The vigil ended with the Reformed Rabbi of the York Jewish community leading all of us in traditional Hebrew songs while he played his guitar (the translation of one of the songs is The World is Built on Love), having all of us recite the names of the 11 people killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue, remembering the police who were injured and the many responders who came immediately to help, reciting the Kaddish while interspersing it with the story that the newborn baby who was born and all those who were present will have to repeat this ceremony every year for the rest of their lives in remembrance of those who died and ending the vigil with the Hebrew song, Maker of Peace. While singing this song, candles were lit and passed from one person to another to light the candle they held in commemoration of the evening.
The sense of community and support was felt deeply by everyone there.
Ken
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