"Happy Easter, Carla!"
Rosemary called to her friend in the hallway as she entered
the classroom. "Happy Naw-Ruz everyone!"
The members of the New Era Baha'i Club looked up from their
lunches. Everyone smiled.
"Happy Naw-Ruz to you, too, Rosemary," Michael
said. "Come join us."
The New Era Baha'i Club was having its regular lunch
meeting. Every day kids from all different religions and races got together to
talk, to plan Unity Fairs, to make plans and to consult about problems.
Rosemary looked around the room at the diverse faces. Michael was white,
Desiree was black, Juana and Julia were twins from Mexico. Jason was Asian,
Mas'ud was from Africa and there was a new boy.
"Hi, I'm Rosemary," she said. "What holiday
are you celebrating this time of year?"
"This is my new friend, Marty," Michael said,
introducing them.
"I'm Jewish," Marty said. "So I'm celebrating
Purim this time of year."
"Joyous Purim," Rosemary said to Marty. She sat
down at the big, round table. She waved to Mr. Keith, their advisor, who was
correcting papers at his desk.
"Spring is such a great time of year," Juana said.
"So many religions are having holy days."
"As a matter of fact, I've just found a new book in the
library that shows how people celebrate holidays," Mr. Keith told them.
Jason got up and went to Mr. Keith's desk. Mr. Keith handed
him a big colorful book and a calendar. "Look at this," Jason said.
"It's about holidays all around the world. See, it shows where the custom
of decorating Easter eggs came from and why Jewish people celebrate Purim as a
victory over a bad ruler."
Michael came and pointed to the table of contents.
"What does your family do for Purim, Marty?"
Marty grinned. "We give gifts to friends and help the
poor and needy. We have something called the Fast of Esther, then we have a day
of feasting. This year the festival starts on March 22 at sundown."
"Baha'is celebrate this time of year, too. We have our
new year, called Naw-Ruz, on the first day of Spring, March 21st. We have a
fast right before we celebrate, too. And then we celebrate the twelve days of
Ridvan from April 9th to 21st. That's when Baha'u'llah declared his mission to
the world."
Desiree pointed to a block of text with the picture of a
big, golden Buddha surrounded by flowers. "Gautama Buddha was born on
April 8th," she said. "I wonder if the Buddhist kids at our school
celebrate in some special way. Do they have a flower festival like this picture
shows?"
"Look at this multi-faith calendar," Marty said.
"There are so many celebrations in March and April. The Zoroastrians
celebrate Jamshedi Noruz on March 21st, too. It's a renewal of life after
winter. The Moslems call it Naw-Ruz in Persia just like the Baha'is. The Hindus
celebrate Holi for three days in the Spring. What a great time for the new year
to start, when everything is starting to bloom again!"
"Easter is really about renewal and rebirth, too,"
Juana commented. "That's when Christians celebrate Jesus Christ's
crucifixion and resurrection. It's like a birth of renewed faith."
For several minutes the friends turned the pages of the big
book and exclaimed over one picture or another. Then they sat back down to
finish their lunches. The calendar was open on the table.
Rosemary looked at the group. "Springtime is a great
time to teach the Faith," she said. "When kids are celebrating their
holidays, we can share their fun and tell them about our holidays, too."
Julia nodded. "We always decorate Easter eggs and go to
Easter Sunday services at my aunt's church. This year we're going to invite my
aunt and uncle and our cousins to our Ridvan party."
"Great idea," Jason said. "I think I'll make
holiday cards for my friends and put a list of all the holidays in them."
Michael leaned forward on his elbows. "Last year I gave
some of my friends a plant, then wished them a happy new year in March. They
asked a lot of questions and we started talking about symbols of new birth and
stuff. This year maybe I'll make flowers."
Mas'ud pulled out a big bag filled with sesame seed cookies.
"Our family made these and gave them to all of our neighbors for Naw-Ruz.
I brought some for all of us. Happy Naw-Ruz!"
Mas'ud passed the plate around and everyone took a cookie.
"Yum!"
"Delicious!"
"You're really a good cook, Mas'ud!"
"We're all a whole lot more alike than different,"
Marty told them as he chomped on his cookie. "Maybe we should make a
display for the library so that everyone can see the different holidays and
festivals that people celebrate this time of year."
The New Era club kids looked at each other and at Marty.
"Cool idea," Rosemary said. Then they all looked over at their
advisor.
"Hey, Mr. Keith ... "
(by Cindy Savage,
illustrated by Robin Allen; The Brilliant Star magazine, March-April 1997)
