Compiled by The Bedford Citizen
Diversity was a clear theme during Bedford’s annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, November 23, at First Church of Christ, Congregational.
As they entered the sanctuary, participants were welcomed by Rockin’ Ruach (Rockin’ Spirit), a jazz ensemble from Temple Shalom Emeth. Then First Church’s Jubilee Ringers opened the service with a full bell choir ringing We Gather Together from the choir loft.
The Bedford Minutman Company presented the colors, and members of the Bedford Clergy Association entered the sanctuary. First Church’s pastor Rev. John Castricum welcomed the worshipers. Reflections were offered by Rabbi Jill Perlman of Temple Isaiah, Lexington; Robert Wirthlin of the Billerica Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Rev. Christopher Wendell, Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; Rev. Scott Arnold of First Baptist Church, and Rev. Megan Lynes of First Parish, Unitarian Universalist.
The massed choir included voices from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church, First Parish Unitarian Universalist, the Billerica Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and First Parish Unitarian Universal. They sang the Shaker anthem, Come Life, conducted by Susan Capestro and accompanied by Ben Silver and Rabbi Susan Abramson. To end the service they sang Lord, We Come to Thank You led by Brad Conner and accompanied by Flute: Andrea Ripplinger, flute; Matthew Bridgeman, trumpet; John Bridgeman, trombone; Susan Capestro, piano; and Rabbi Susan Abramson, djembe.
Individual choirs sang folksinger Fred Small’s anthem Peace Is; A Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester with soloist Emily Mitchell of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; I Stand All Amazed sung by the Billerica Ward Choir; Rimsky-Korsakoff’s All Praise to God the Eternal sung by First Parish, Unitarian Universalist; A Celtic Thanksgiving, sung by the choir of First Church of Christ; and Bayom Hahu (On That Day) performed by Rockin’ Ruach, the Temple Shalom Emeth Band
Litany of Gratitude for Our Diversity, as read by the clergy and congregation
On this day of national Thanksgiving, we are grateful to God, not only for those benefits that have come to us from this land and from our experience of its settlement and development but also for the gifts that the settlers in this country brought with them from their lands of origin. For we are the children of many nations, bound together by all that is good in many heritages and cultures.
Those who have here sought a haven and refuge, from the first settlers in Jamestown and at Plymouth Rock to those who still enter our country from many lands, came not empty-handed but bearing many cultural gifts.
We are grateful for the gifts brought to this country by the sturdy stock that came from England — For their gift of the language we speak, for their gift of civic liberty and for the freedom of worship they planted and fostered in this land.
But not from England alone stem those blessings that make us thank You for having cast our lot in this blessed land.
The pattern of America is a blend of culture from many lands, woven threads from many corners of the world.
Diversity, itself, is the pattern of America, the very stuff and color of its fabric.
To reap the full benefits of that diversity, we should seek to know more about the experiences and qualities, hopes and achievements of the many kinds of people who make America.
Not until wave after wave of these facts sweep over us, will the true quality of our American life ring in the American atmosphere, the American consciousness.
Only then will all Americans feel themselves at one with the builders of America in the past and with each other in the present, drawn together, knit together by a common stake in America.
Then all over this country, Americans will feel themselves at home in the history of America, in that interplay, that diversity which IS America.
The cultural atmosphere of the United States will mean new and broader ways of seeing our neighbors and freer and more generous ways of behaving toward them.
It will mean a new solidarity, irrespective of background – one that lets people remain themselves.
It will bring into full play the healthy, simultaneous tension and fusion of stubborn, creative differences, challenging all groups and individuals to work with one another in contributing from their own life to the good of ALL.
Open our eyes, O God, that we may see Your divine image in ALL and accept humbly and gratefully the gifts that each race, creed, and nationality brings to our American life!
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