A visit to Foothills United Church of Christ on Thanksgiving Day

“E Pluribus Unum – Out of many, we are one.”

“The words are right there—On our money and our public buildings, etched in silver, printed on paper, and carved in stone. But even if this is the only bit of Latin you remember from Civics class, it doesn’t mean a heck of a lot unless it’s etched in your heart because too many people don’t believe this anymore: that out of many of us, different kinds of us, we can become one.”

Above is quoted from Reverend Evelyn Vigil’s speech made on the day of the Thanksgiving in their Parish Hall in Los Altos. Pacifica Institute members were invited by the Foothills Congregational Church to join their annual thanksgiving gathering in the morning. We were greeted at the door by Reverend Matthew Broadbent and given a booklet which described the program and included the songs that we were to sing. The stage was ready for the chorus, lined with chairs and a black piano. Members of the chorus were wearing red robes. There were few people wearing pilgrim costumes and it felt like we were in another era. The only thing missing was the Mayflower in the picture. The program started with Michelle, a member of the church, reading some passages from the Bible, mentioning fig and olive trees. It reminded me of the chapter of the Fig in Quran.
There was a lot of singing. “America, the Beautiful” brought tears to everybody’s eyes. Reverend Evelyn went up to the stage and opened her talk with a joke “Everybody is the pilgrim and I am the only Indian here.” We all laughed. The talk was about diversity and unity without uniformity. Later, Ridvan, a member of Pacifica Institute who became a US citizen recently, gave a short speech on how he decided to become a citizen, and shared his feelings.

It was Reverend Matthew’s talk when two pilgrims started distributing dry corn in a bowl. Reverend Matthew explained that when the pilgrims had landed they were starving and had nothing to eat except five grains of corn per person. In memory of the pilgrims, we were asked to pick only five corn pieces, place them on the thanksgiving dinner table, and think about it that night. Ironically, history is loyal to the people who are suffering and enduring hardship. They are the ones always remembered rather than those who live prosperous lives.

We walked to the garden next to the main church. This was where we carried lovely conversation with the members of the church. There were few long tables with cakes, crackers, coffee and fruits. Dates filled with walnuts and buried in sugar were especially very tasty. A gentlemen dressed like a pilgrim later said “I knew you would pick the dates!” implying the relationship between the dates and the Muslims.

There was a very young lady, about 13 years old who went to Turkey and loved it so much. She even mentioned some famous streets in Turkey. It was an enjoyable experience to hear someone speak about Turkey so enthusiastically.

A priest gave us a tour of the church which had no iconography. He also gave us some information about Christianity, such as how priests are elected through a set of interviews and the differences between different denominations.

During another conversation, a member of Pacifica Institute told that there were annual turkey festivals in his hometown in Turkey. Most people like me never knew that! That is the power of dialogue: You keep learning not only about other cultures, but also about your own.

The gathering was over. On the way home, there was sweetness in our mouths, probably because of the dates, and we found ourselves repeating unintentionally a line from Rumi’s Mathnawi:

“Thanksgiving for the bounty is sweeter than the bounty itself.”

by Nihal Sahan