The Rev. Sarah Midzalkowski of Canterbury MSU speaks about the East Lansing Interfaith Thanksgiving Service and how interfaith events bring people of different religions together. Representatives of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism read from their holy books in celebration of Thanksgiving on Monday at All Saints Episcopal Church, 800 Abbot Road.
In a local episcopal church, students and community members listened to readings from religious holy books, including the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita and the Quran.
Despite religious differences, people from many faiths celebrated Thanksgiving together on Monday evening at All Saints Episcopal Church, 800 Abbot Road.
The event brought people from different religions together as Americans, said Rev. Kit Carlson, rector of the All Saints Episcopal Church.
“It’s a wonderful way for the diverse community to come together to celebrate what is truly an American holiday,” Carlson said. “It’s a wonderful way for us to be Americans together, despite our different faiths.”
The East Lansing Interfaith Thanksgiving Service is celebrated every year at a different place of worship to show how different faiths give thanks to God. An interfaith clergy group coordinates the events.
“The idea is that it’s a national holiday of thanks giving,” Carlson said. “Everybody in America has some way to give thanks to God as they understand God to be.”
Representatives of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism read passages from their respective holy books.
“The service itself includes prayer and songs from different faiths,” said Rev. Sarah Midzalkowski of Canterbury MSU, the Episcopal campus ministry. “We hope to educate people about how similar our prayers are.”
For doctoral student Yuan Zou, the event was one of several ways she will celebrate Thanksgiving. Zou said this was her first time hearing readings from the Bhagavad Gita, primary text in Hinduism. Zou learned about the event from an MSU professor.
“(I came) because of my teacher (and also) in order to enjoy the atmosphere,” Zou said.
Carlson said the event showed different ways to worship.
“While we respect and value one another, all religions are not the same,” Carlson said. “We all worship God in a different way.”
Vidyadhar Mandrekar of the Bharatiya Temple of Lansing, 955 Haslett Road, in Haslett, Mich., read from the Bhagavad Gita. He read a passage about the immortality of the soul.
“(It is important) to realize there is an entity called the soul. … That soul is eternal,”
Mandrekar said. “Everybody has this soul.”
Mandrekar said the passage and the service might help attendees understand universal equality.
“I think they will understand that all of us are equal,” Mandrekar said. “We are all the same.”
Midzalkowski said patriotism unites people regardless of faith.
“Even though our religions are different, we all come together in the spirit of thanks for the blessing of living in a country that provides us with bounty, tolerance and freedom,” Midzalkowski said.
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