Harvard Divinity School

From Traditions of the Afrikan* Diaspora | Regla de Ocha-Ifá, an AfroCuban Spiritual Tradition Chanted by Nadia Milad Issa, MTS I *Preferred spelling of the student representative. Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Text on-screen at beginning of reading: Translations of Yoruba chants are highly exclusive to men Akpwón, an issue central to Nadia’s scholarly research. A rough translation, provided by one of their elders, of what they are singing follows. Yemayá is the Ocean and the universal mother. The Mayo is one of the names to refer to Yemayá. Oraye is the call to all people across the world to work together in community. Bambi is a

From Those Who are Unaffiliated | Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan Read by Kate Hoeting, MTS II Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Hi everyone! I’m going to be reading a passage from Carl Sagan’s book Pale Blue Dot, in which he is reflecting on the famous photo which you can see here, titled Pale Blue Dot, taken from the Voyager I spacecraft on its way out of our solar system of Earth. It’s a little self portrait, and you can see in the middle-right, sort of in that orange sunbeam, is a tiny pixel which is Earth. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyo

Meditation | Hine ma tov, a round from the Jewish tradition Sung by the HDS Choir Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Hine ma tov uma na’im Shevet achim gam yachad Translation: Behold how good and how pleasing it is for us to sit together in unity.

From the Jewish Tradition | “The Light of the Spirit Never Dies” by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Read by Madeline Levy, MTS II Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: There’s an interesting question the commentators ask about Chanukah. For eight days we light lights, and each night we make the blessing over miracles: she-asah nissim la-avotenu. But what was the miracle of the first night? The light that should have lasted one day lasted eight. But that means there was something miraculous about days 2 to 8; but nothing miraculous about the first day. Perhaps the miracle was this, that the Maccabees found one cruse of oil with i

From the Traditions of Queer Spiritualities | Excerpts from “Poem of Perfect Miracles,” by Walt Whitman Read by Vivian Trutzl, MTS II Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Why! who makes much of a miracle?  As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,  Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,  Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water, Or stand under trees in the woods,  Or talk by day with any one I love— or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love, Or sit at the table at dinner with my mother,  Or look at strangers opposite me rid

From the Buddhist Tradition | Attadiipaa Sutta (A Lamp to Oneself) Read by Liem Nguyen, MDiv II Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Monks, be a lamp unto yourselves, be your own refuge, having no other; let the Dhamma be a lamp and a refuge to you, having no other. Those who are lamps unto themselves... should investigate to the very heart of things: ‘What is the source of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair? How do they arise?’  Here, monks, the uninstructed worldling. Change occurs in this man's body, and it becomes different. On account of this change and difference, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and de

Meditation | “Rainbow,” by Kacey Musgraves Taylor Donaldson, MTS II, soprano Christopher Hossfeld, piano Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: When it rains it pours But you didn't even notice It ain't rainin' anymore It's hard to breathe when all you know is The struggle of Staying above The rising water line Well, the sky has finally opened The rain and wind stopped blowin' But you're stuck out in the same old storm again You hold tight to your umbrella But, darling, I'm just tryin' to tell ya That there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head If you could see what I see You'd be blinded by the colours

From the Unitarian Universalist Tradition | “Dark and Light,” by Jacqui James Read by Alex Jensen, MDiv III Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Blackmail, blacklist, black mark. Black Monday, black mood, black-hearted. Black plague, black mass, black market. Good guys wear white, bad guys wear black. We fear black cats, and the Dark Continent. But it’s okay to tell a white lie lily-white hands are coveted, it’s great to be pure as the driven snow. Angels and brides wear white. Devil’s food cake is chocolate; angel’s food cake is white! We shape language and we are shaped by it. In our culture, white is esteemed. It is hea

From the Pagan Tradition | A Winter Solstice Blessing Chanted by Natalia Schwien, MTS II Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: A fire is burning The long night draws near All who need comfort Are welcome by here We’ll dance ‘neath the stars And toast the past year For the spirit of solstice Is still living here We’ll count all our blessings While the Mother lays down With snow as her blanket Covering the ground Thanks to the Mother For the life that she brings She’ll waken to warm us Again in the spring The poor and the hungry The sick and the lost These are our children No matter the cost

From Those Who are Claimed by Multiple Belongings | “In Praise of Fire” by John O’Donohue Read by Jessica Young Chang, MDiv II Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Let us praise the grace and risk of Fire. In the beginning, The Word was red, And the sound was thunder, And the wound in the unseen  Spilled forth the red weather of being.  In the name of the Fire, The Flame And the Light: Praise the pure presence of fire  That burns from within Without thought of time.  The hunger of Fire has no need For the reliquary of the future; It adores the eros of now,  Where the memory of the earth In flames that lick and dr

Shining, in the Gathering Light | “Holy Darkness” by Dan Schutte HDS Choir with Xavier Sayeed, MTS I, guitar and bass Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: Refrain: Holy darkness, blessed night, heaven’s answer, hidden from our sight. As we await you, O God of silence, we embrace your holy night. I have tried you in fires of affliction; I have taught your soul to grieve. In the barren soil of your loneliness, there I will plant my seed. Refrain. I have taught you the price of compassion; you have stood before the grave. Though my love can seem like a raging storm, this is the love that saves. Refrain. In your deepest hour of darknes

Communal Invocation | Adapted from the poetry of Hafiz Read by Kerry A. Maloney and Xavier I. Sayeed, MTS I Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s TRANSCRIPT: One:Light will someday split you open even if your life is now a cage, All:for a divine seed, the crown of destiny, is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain you hold the title to. One:Love will surely burst you wide open into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy All:even if your mind is now a spoiled mule. One:A life-giving radiance will come; the Friend's gratuity will come. All:O look again within yourself, for I know you were once the elegant host to all the marvels in creation. One:Fr

Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s Transcript: Good evening and welcome to this year’s Seasons of Light celebration at Harvard Divinity School. My name is Kerry Maloney, and I am the Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life here at HDS. Seasons of Light is our campus’ annual ritual to honor the unity of holy darkness and holy light in the world’s religious traditions that are represented on our campus. While we usually enjoy the deep intimacy of one another’s presence for this event, jammed into our largest sacred space on campus to share music, prayers, chants, and texts, this year, of course, due to the pandemic, we are scattered across the Unit

Kindling the Light | “Vajra Mantra” by Satigata Chris Berlin, Counselor to Buddhist Students; Darren Becker, MDiv ’15; Andrew Stauffer MDiv ’18; and Alanna Coady, MDiv ’18 The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life.

Prelude | Adagio by Franz Josef Haydn Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, piano Seasons of Light is hosted by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life under the direction of Christopher Hossfeld, Director of Music and Ritual, and Kerry A. Maloney, Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life. The full video recording of Seasons of Light 2020 can be found on the HDS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVuYb9d7tCc&t=587s

Nyasha Junior, Visiting Associate Professor of Women's Studies and African-American Religions, and Catherine Brekus, Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America, discuss Jarena Lee as Protestant icon.

The 2020-21 Fellows in Conflict and Peace at Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School share their backgrounds, fellowship projects, and how they hope to engage with the RCPI and RPL communities during their fellowship year. To engage further, get in touch with RPL at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/about/contact-us.

The 2020-21 Fellows in Conflict and Peace at Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School share their backgrounds, fellowship projects, and how they hope to engage with the RCPI and RPL communities during their fellowship year. To engage further, get in touch with RPL at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/about/contact-us.

The 2020-21 Fellows in Conflict and Peace at Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School share their backgrounds, fellowship projects, and how they hope to engage with the RCPI and RPL communities during their fellowship year. To engage further, get in touch with RPL at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/about/contact-us.

The 2020-21 Fellows in Conflict and Peace at Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School share their backgrounds, fellowship projects, and how they hope to engage with the RCPI and RPL communities during their fellowship year. To engage further, get in touch with RPL at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/about/contact-us.