Roughly 75 people of all backgrounds attended the annual One Spirit: Celebrating our Faiths Together event at the Hindu Temple on the 27th of October, 2024. A collaboration between the Hindu Parishad & Cultural Center and the Victoria Multifaith Society, the event began with presentations from a variety of faith groups and ended with a delicious SE Asian meal in the adjoining dining hall.
This year, Sarah Bidanjiri presented two a cappella songs on behalf of the Baha’i community, inviting the audience to join in on the second, “Where there is Love, Nothing is Too Much Trouble…” Shoshana Litman, a Maggidah (ordained Jewish storyteller), taught a devotional chant based on the Golden Rule. Sannie Sala and Friends, a group of all ages from the LDS community, sang the rousing Christian hymn “How Great Thou Art” accompanied by the audience. Zaynab (Jenny) Mazjoub of the Muslim community, taught the greeting Salaam Alaikum, chanted a verse from the Quran about unity and peace, and explained its meaning. On behalf of the Hindu community, Anil Kapur sang a beautiful spiritual devotional song, and Carol Sokoloff finished the formal program with a lively participative dance in three concentric circles, filling the room with music, movement and verses in many languages.
The spirit of the event was one of palpable joy, enthusiasm and good will, as everyone in the audience expressed appreciation for all of the presenters and their diverse communities. VMS would like to express huge thanks to the presenters, audience, volunteers, the Hindu Temple, and especially our cooks for the evening, Shivani and Shushant Soman!