First Annual Thanksgiving Dinner San Jose
Whether you are a farmer who harvests acres of soil, or an introvert software developer who tries to wrap up the projects before the big holiday shut down, November is always a busy time of the year. It is also the month of Thanksgiving, one American holiday that is so much in harmony with Pacifica Institute’s vision of dialogue, since it bypasses all religious differences and brings us altogether as Americans. It is not a holiday of a particular religion, but rather a holiday that has many deeply religious and spiritual connotations.
This Thanksgiving, the Women’s League of Silicon Valley brought together the Campbell United Methodist Church of Christ and the members of the Pacifica Institute for a Thanksgiving dinner. On September 11, 2008, they had been gracious enough to host the PI community for a Ramadan iftar (fast-breaking) dinner.
When the clock was ticking towards 7pm, one could see all the Turkish ladies busy in the kitchen, humbly making the final preparations for this all-American dinner with a Turkish twist. Their enthusiasm and faith in dialogue made me so proud. When Dr. Alan Jones and Reverend Linda Jones appeared at the door with a group of church members, there was a warmer feeling in the atmosphere, not because of the red table clothes, but because of the love and friendship radiating from their big hearts.
We were honored to have the San Jose City council member, Judy Chirco, among the guests. Also present were the Santa Clara Judge Franklin Bondonno and the Cuportino City planning commission chairman Mr. Marty Miller.
The dinner was wrapped between two prayers: A Christian style prayer, in the beginning, offered by Dr. Jones for the food that we were about to have, and a Muslim style prayer, at the end, offered by Servet Akguc, a member of Pacifica Institute, for the food we just had. I was fortunate to share the same table with Eddie, Roxanne and Michael from the Campbell church.
The humorous part of the evening was to hear Linda’s talk about the turkey and how it got its name (See the article “Interesting Facts” for the details of this story). She also mentioned the history of thanksgiving briefly.
I was the designated speaker of Women’s League for the night to speak about the place of thanksgiving in the life of a Muslim. The very first verse in the very first chapter in Quran says “All praise be to God”, encouraging believers to offer thanks as the first step in servanthood. The Quran repeatedly directs the gaze of the believers to the surrounding creation in the universe. The universe manifests itself as a vast and rich treasury displaying the Creator’s infinite bounties. On the other hand, God gave faculties to mankind to measure these bounties and to appreciate them. For example, the sense of taste placed on the tongue allows man to recognize the varieties of food. In addition, God gave us appetite and desire for the bounties. Appetite can be considered as the instinctive form of gratitude and opens the door for thanksgiving. By being grateful, we make a very important statement that we are pleased with our Lord. And, in return, we hope He will be pleased with us as well.
After the talk, a gentleman approached me and said he was going to think more about the faculty of taste placed on the tongue to measure the endless bounties.
Pounds of leftover turkey to eat for the whole week, the friendships that were established, and some nice memories to remember for a long time were the gifts of the night for each one of us.
We left with a lot to be thankful for…
by Nihal Sahan