November is the season of harvest. As the earth turns golden and the ears of rice ripen everywhere, it is a meaningful time to celebrate the harvest in the midst of the pandemic. Independent international news media GPDN has produced a special online program, "A Month of Joy and Gratitude," in which friends from the United States, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Denmark share stories about joy and gratitude in their home countries.
Jason, who is from the United States, says Thanksgiving is a time for family gatherings when families from all over the world come together and each brings a dish to share with others. The kitchen that day was very chaotic but warm and wonderful. When they share food on the table, the family looks back on the past year together. Looking forward to the new year, the old and new generations exchange ideas that have stirred them. Jason believes that Thanksgiving makes him rethink his connection with others in his life.
Nu Nu, who is from Burma and now lives in the United States, shared in the program that the lighting festival (Thadingyut) is celebrated on the full moon day of the seventh month of the Burmese calendar, usually in the third week of October, and is a particularly sacred day for Burmese Buddhists. During the festival, a number of devout Buddhists offer flowers on this special day, and a variety of lights are lit throughout the country as an expression of gratitude for blessings and disaster relief. The Lighting Festival (Thadingyut) is also associated with worship, not only of the Buddha and his teachings but also of monks, parents, teachers, and older relatives. During worship, it is common to ask for forgiveness for any transgressions committed against parents or other elders during the year. Traditionally, parents would say they forgive them for any wrongdoing and continue to wish them good luck and give them some pocket money. This is a great token of appreciation and gratitude for everyone.
The program also presents the famous Chishang Autumn Harvest Festival in Taiwan, which has been held in Chihshang for 13 years in a row since 2009 by Chih Shang Township Taitung County Culture and Art Association and Lovely Taiwan Foundation. This year, the internationally renowned Cloud Gate Dance Group and singer 9m88 were invited to perform together. Cloud Gate dancers can be seen in the video dancing with a light, easy movement or rhythm in the golden rice paddies, conveying the most direct vitality through their bodies in the changing light of the sky at Chihshang. The lazy, free, broad, and expansive voice of a singer, 9m88, weaves through the East Rift Valley and dances on stage with the students from ChihShang Junior High School, leading the audience to find the most primitive feelings of life and gratitude to heaven and earth amidst the mountains and rice waves.
Lissie Brobjerg from Denmark notes that since Viking times, Denmark has had a tradition of offering gifts to Frej, the Norse God of fertility. As Denmark became a Christian country, the Danes have various festivals to celebrate the saints, one of which is St. Michael's Day on September 29, when the harvest is celebrated. According to Lissie Brobjerg, the most important aspect of the Danish tradition of harvest and Mass is to give thanks and share the surplus with the poor in order for everyone to survive the long winter. Lessie and her husband shortly introduce the two most important songs by singing: “The hay has been reaped” and “We ploughed and we sowed.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2021 will be a difficult year for the world, and it will also prompt people to examine their interactions with others or the environment around them. In any case, let us always be grateful to the world, reflect on our mistakes, kindly respect the world's different cultures and species, and coexist and prosper together. Finally, let's use the song "Wish" and a devout heart to wish the world to recover from the New Coronavirus pandemic so that mankind and the earth can be balanced again and return to a pure heart and pure earth.
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