Faithful Connections: Interfaith Winter Lights Festival
Join us THIS Saturday for Interfaith Atlanta’s Second Annual Interfaith Winter Lights Festival!
Pictured: Last Year’s Winter Lights Festival
Happy December, Everyone!
With the year drawing to a close, the days getting darker, and the weather getting colder, Interfaith Atlanta is excited to host our second annual Winter Lights Festival at Emory University’s Cannon Chapel on December 14th to celebrate the spirit of light in an interfaith space! As we bring people of diverse faiths together, we look to demonstrate light as a symbol of hope and connection across our religious communities while also building our own community, bringing people across faith traditions together at a time when the world increasingly draws boundaries between various groups.
I had the privilege of being part of the planning and preparations of last year, being able to attend this beautiful and peaceful event amidst finals and an incredibly stressful year. At the Winter Lights Festival in 2024, we found that the speakers and performers often repeated one another without even planning it. While each faith tradition brought the rich history, culture, and beliefs that are specific to that practice, we found that light is an incredibly uniting factor as it urges people across traditions to remember the goodness in humanity.
In each performance, we found that the physical lights present in our religious practice symbolize stories and beliefs in justice, peace, compassion, love, and faith that brighten up even the most difficult of moments. Whether the Advent Wreath, Hanukkah Menorah, Diwali, stories in sacred texts that mention light, or something else, each person’s tradition had something to teach the entire group about the beauty and magic of light. Even simple acts of kindness or empathy can rekindle a flame of hope that many may have lost amidst dark times that are possibly known by no one else.
The beauty of these shared moments stayed with many of us, and this year, we are building on the warmth of last year. Bring your friends, neighbors, loved ones, and yourself to join us in celebrating the beauty and power of light in uniting us and creating hopeful light in what are dark times for many. We hope that this program will show the immense amount of love that remains and shines bright even when we may feel hopeless. We will come together as one interfaith community in this festival of lights, and we hope to see you there! See more information and register by clicking the button below!
