Category Archives: Interfaith

Making A Difference: Taking Action

Making A Difference: Taking Action is a Choice

And that Choice is Available to Us Every day

By Zoe Leitner, age 18, New Jersey.

I have a history of taking action. I believe that action is the most honest form of belief. Conviction means little unless it alters how we behave—what we build, what we interrupt, and what we refuse to ignore. Awareness is only a beginning; agency begins when we decide to respond.

My understanding of action began somewhere ordinary: the kitchen. For my mom and me, baking together, mostly chocolate, was routine, almost background noise. But in 2020, I realized that familiarity could be a tool for change. I started selling over 600 hot chocolate bombs in my community, raising more than $4,000 and reaching over 80 families. I didn’t do it to seek recognition, but in response to what I saw around me: needs that could be met, even in small ways.

The project worked not because of novelty, but because it was accessible. Participation didn’t require prior experience, complicated forms, or large commitments. Anyone could contribute in a meaningful way. It was easy to understand, easy to engage with, and immediately relevant to the people it aimed to serve. What mattered most was how the money was used afterward. Instead of deciding what organizations might need, I asked them. Jackets instead of cash. Food instead of flyers. Listening reshaped my understanding of service: meaningful help begins with attention, not assumption.

That lesson stayed with me. In 2023, I founded Chocolate4Charity, a nonprofit that channels my love of baking into meaningful impact. Through partnerships with Pink Jewels Boutique, David Chad Beauty Parlor, Nicole Nicosia Hair, and Smith & Company Gifts, we’ve sold over 800 boxes, raising nearly $10,000 for causes I care deeply about: $3,000 to the Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation, $3,500 to the Montclair Animal Shelter, $1,000 to MIB Agents Pediatric Cancer Research, and 200 chocolate boxes donated to Comfort Zone Bereavement Camps.. Over 80 students have joined me in volunteering, packaging, and delivering chocolates, discovering firsthand how small actions ripple outward. Each box doesn’t just deliver chocolate; it gives people a chance to contribute, participate, and see the real impact of their efforts.

Chocolate is the vehicle, not the focus. Some causes reflect my family’s history. Supporting Holocaust education honors my great-grandparents, Holocaust survivors, and my grandparents, immigrants, whose experiences shaped my understanding of responsibility. Other causes reflect friendship, grief, and compassion, such as supporting a peer battling cancer, helping children navigate loss, and advocating for animal rights.

The most important measure of success is not the money raised but the number of people who participate. Many people want to help but hesitate because they do not know where to begin. Chocolate4Charity offers an accessible entry point through packaging chocolates, sharing a cause, or delivering donations. I have watched classmates who rarely speak up—over 80 in total—discover a sense of purpose simply by stepping into action. Real impact begins not with grand gestures but with invitations that inspire others to act.

In 2025, I was honored as a Top Upstander at an event organized by a library in Montclair, New Jersey, in collaboration with children’s book author Dr. Janice Cohn. The recognition was meaningful, but I do not see it as a title or an accolade. To me, being an Upstander is deliberate. It is the refusal to remain passive once you notice something that needs attention. It is the choice to respond, even when the right path is unclear or imperfect.

This understanding resonates with a message Dr. Janice Cohn often shares: “Light a tiny candle.” Action is not about being seen; it’s about aligning belief with our behavior. It is found in everyday decisions—listening, offering help, stepping forward when silence would be easier. That philosophy continues to guide my work with Chocolate4Charity and in other parts of my life.

Being an Upstander, like any meaningful action, is not a single moment. It’s a practice, a habit, and a commitment to notice what others might overlook. In that sense, recognition matters less than the choices that lead to it. Action remains its own reward.

Action began in a kitchen for me, with melted chocolate and a question I could not ignore: What will I do with what I see? That question has guided every choice I’ve made since that first chocolate, and to the moments when I have chosen to speak, listen, and act.

Meaningful change requires aligning belief with behavior, noticing what needs attention, and inviting others to work with you. Real impact is rarely sudden or dramatic. It is built from small, intentional acts that ripple outward, shaping communities, relationships, and lives in ways that are often invisible, yet enduring.

I truly believe taking action is a choice, and that choice is available to us every day. That’s where responsibility begins, and that’s where belief becomes real!

—Zoe Leitner, Age 18, New Jersey.

Imagine…

“Just a tiny candle we lit. It wasn’t much. But it was something.”
—Gary Svee, an editor at the Billings Gazette, 1994.

The quote above appears on the cover of the new edition of my book, The Christmas Menorahs: How A Town Fought Hate.

The book recounts the true story of the extraordinary 1993 holiday season in Billings, Montana, when the town took a united, courageous stand against hate and bigotry. The citizens of Billings were perplexed by the national attention their actions received. “Just a tiny candle we lit,” said Gary Svee, an editor at the Billings Gazette.

And yet…imagine how different our country (and the world) would be if people in every community just “lit a tiny candle” against hate and injustice.

Now imagine if the actions of all young people, who “lit a tiny candle” were recognized and honored.

At a time when the problems and challenges of young people today are routinely discussed, imagine if the actions of young people who have shown moral courage and compassion on behalf of others could be routinely highlighted.

In December 2025, my town library in Montclair, New Jersey, presented a special holiday event that celebrated some of Montclair’s young Upstanders and featured a reading of portions of The Christmas Menorahs, along with an excerpt from the acclaimed 1995 PBS documentary, Not In Our Town, which cinematically tells this story of how the people of Billings took a strong stand against hate and bigotry.

The book reading and film were meant to inspire the audience. But much inspiration came from hearing about the actions of the young people who were being honored.

What makes a child or adolescent an Upstander? Is it a dramatic, brave, morally courageous act? Is it less dramatic, quieter acts of compassion and kindness towards others in need, or can being a true Upstander encompass both—or either?

The research shows that when children and adolescents stand up for—and take actions to help—others in need, it can help them as well by enhancing their self-esteem, lowering their stress and anxiety, and even improving their academic performance.

That’s why it’s important for communities (whether those communities are schools, houses of worship, or towns) to recognize and honor young Upstanders. This could be for actions taken on behalf of other Americans or on behalf of people around the world.

My book, Freedom Pancakes For Ukraine, published in 2024, tells the story of a Ukrainian refugee boy, displaced by the current war in his country, and an American girl who wanted to find a way to help the Ukrainian children.

One of the reasons I wrote it was to encourage American children and adolescents to realize that they can counteract their feelings of helplessness when hearing about war and injustice by taking positive action and making a difference, however small they may think that difference is.

Time magazine recently named its 2025 “Kid of the Year.” The winner featured on its cover, Tejasvi Manoj, used her exceptional computer skills and her “on-site” experts—her parents—to create an extraordinary website, Shield Seniors, which will help protect countless seniors from consumer scams.

My dream is to have a national movement to encourage young people to stand up and help others. They don’t have to possess exceptional skills or expertise since every young person has the ability to help another human being in some way. They may not end up on the cover of Time magazine, but their actions should be recognized and honored.

During these difficult, divisive times, let’s encourage thousands of “tiny candles” to be lit by young people on behalf of those in need. It will be good for them, as well as for the people they stand up for, and thus help make our world a better place for all.

You may also be interested in the article I have written for young people, in Skipping Stones magazine about Upstanders.

Dr. Janice Cohn is a psychotherapist and children’s book author. She can be contacted at: janice@drjanicecohn.com. The Christmas Menorahs: How A Town Fought Hate, this 30^th Anniversary edition was a winner of the 2025 Skipping Stones Book Awards. You can read a review of the book here.

On Being An Upstander

A lot has been written and discussed about the problems and challenges that many of you face as you try to navigate a difficult, complex world.

But in my view, there hasn’t been nearly enough focus on those of you who—despite your challenges—have taken a stand to make the world a better place by courageously combating hate, bigotry, and bullying, and showing kindness and compassion toward others.

I’m Dr. Janice Cohn, a psychotherapist and book author, who writes about “Upstanders” of all ages, people who have shown exceptional moral courage. A number of young Upstanders were honored at our local public library in Montclair, New Jersey, this past December, in a moving celebration called “The Courage to Care.” The event’s title acknowledged that it’s not always easy to take a stand on behalf of what’s right or to extend a hand of kindness and compassion toward others. Often, it’s easier to do nothing. But many young people in my town (as I’m sure is true in your town) decided to take action. For example:

Twelfth grader Zoe Leitner started a non-profit, Chocolate for Charity, that raised thousands of dollars for a local woman’s shelter, a bereavement camp, Holocaust education, and more.

Seventh grader Wells went out of his way to make a new student to our country feel welcomed by bringing him into his friend group and inviting him in their daily outings.

When eleventh grader Anna learned that SNAP benefits for families would be suspended, she organized a food drive at her school, made posters to publicize it, and delivered the collected food to a local food pantry.

Now think about what you might do, or what other young people could do. How might you stand up for others too? And how can you help to spread the word about the importance of Upstanders?

Please take a look at my article, Imagine… on the Skipping Stones website and see if that gives you any ideas.

Dr. Janice Cohn can be reached at janice@drjanicecohn.com Dr. Cohn has authored several books, including The Christmas Menorahs: How A Town Fought Hate (this 30^th Anniversary edition was a winner of the 2025 Skipping Stones Book Awards. You can read a review of the book here).

A Longing for Unity in a Fractured Time

A meaningful encounter with Swami Vivekananda in Chicago
By Anu Prabhala, Maryland.

With everything unfolding in our nation and across the world, I found myself longing—almost aching—for a message of unity. I have never encountered that idea expressed more beautifully or more boldly than in Swami Vivekananda’s address at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.

What he offered was not a soft call for tolerance, but a radical reimagining of unity itself: unity across religions, yes—but also between science and philosophy, reason and faith, intellect and intuition. His words dissolved borders we insist on keeping rigid—between belief systems, nations, even between what we call perfection and imperfection—revealing them instead as expressions of a single, indivisible truth.

At the heart of his message was a simple yet demanding idea: happiness does not arise from narrowing identity, but from expanding it. As Vivekananda put it, “Happiness comes best from universal consciousness.” And to reach that expansiveness, he insisted, we must loosen our grip on the anxious, isolated self: “To gain universal individuality, this miserable little-person individuality must go.”

More than a century later, the address endures—not only for its philosophical clarity, but for its quiet poetry and moral courage.

Photo: Swami Vivekananda in Chicago, 1893 (handwritten words say, “one infinite pure and holy—beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee”). Credit: The Art Institute of Chicago.

When Two Worlds Quietly Merged:
I felt the full weight of that courage standing in Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago, where Swami Vivekananda delivered his world-altering address—just one floor below George Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, one of my favorite paintings of all time. In that moment, two long-standing currents of my life converged: my love of art, particularly French painting, and my grounding in Vedanta, a philosophy that feels like a pair of well-worn jeans: real, practical, comforting, and quietly accepting.

Art and philosophy, France and India, my adopted country and my birthplace—under one roof, they did not compete. They conversed.

That is what happens, I have learned, when we allow the world to shape us: the Self expands to make room for more of humanity, not less.

Humble Rooms, World-Altering Ideas:
The room itself was modest—neither grand nor theatrical. Its restraint felt fitting. History reminds us repeatedly that transformative ideas rarely announce themselves with spectacle. Mahatma Gandhi, a failed lawyer, reshaped a nation. Franz Kafka, an anxious bureaucrat, altered world literature. John Harrison, a self-taught carpenter, solved the longitude problem that changed navigation forever.

Photo: Fullerton Hall’s podium, where Swami Vivekananda delivered his address in 1893.

And Swami Vivekananda—a nearly penniless, 30-year-old monk from India—arrived in America after a long sea voyage to speak at what was then a radical gathering: a Western, Christian, male-dominated Parliament of Religions. His courage lay not just in showing up, but in declaring—without apology—that no single tradition owned the truth.

As he told the audience plainly, “If anyone here hopes that his unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, ‘Brother, yours is an impossible hope.’”

Plurality as Sacred Truth:
For Swami Vivekananda, the universe’s beauty lay precisely in its plurality—in many paths converging toward one reality. He captured this vision with enduring grace:

“As the different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their waters in the sea… so the different paths which men take all lead to Thee.”

In a world increasingly fractured by certainty and fear, his tone feels almost maternal—firm, reassuring, deeply confident in the human spirit. From his very first words—“Brothers and sisters of America”—he transformed a formal assembly into a human family, drawing a standing ovation that lasted nearly two minutes.

Unity, for him, was not sentimental. It was a moral necessity.

He explained this idea through an image as simple as it was profound: a seed planted in the earth. Surrounded by soil, air, and water, the seed does not become any one of them. It grows according to its own law—assimilating what it needs while remaining true to its nature. So too, he argued, with religion, each tradition must grow in its own way, enriched by others, yet never erased by them. It was this insistence on growth and individuality rather than imitation that gave his words such enduring force.

A Childhood Trained in Coexistence:
His message resonated deeply with my own upbringing in Dadar Parsi Colony in Mumbai, where a Zoroastrian agiary, Hindu temples, and a mosque existed within a few hundred feet of one another. You prayed to your own gods, and then, as children, we came together to play. Coexistence required no explanation.

That innocence was shaken during the Hindu–Muslim riots of the 1990s, when curfews confined us indoors for weeks and fear fractured neighborhoods that had once lived generously with difference. It was my first encounter with how easily love for the divine can be manipulated into division.

That is why Vivekananda’s message feels so urgent today. He reminded the world that faith is not defined by labels, but by a deeply human plea for meaning, reassurance, and strength in moments of vulnerability. Faith, in that sense, speaks a universal language.

He said, “So long as there is such a thing as weakness in the human heart, so long as there is a cry going out of the heart of man in his very weakness, there shall be a faith in God.”

What he seemed to suggest was that true faith is not defined by religious labels at all, but by a deeply human plea—for meaning, for strength, for reassurance in moments of vulnerability. In that sense, faith speaks a universal language, capable of being heard by many names.

Not Belief, but Becoming:
Vivekananda also offered a quiet corrective: religion, he argued, is not about struggling to believe doctrines, but about realizing truth—about being and becoming. What mattered was not the form of God one worshipped, but the character one cultivated. Did faith enlarge the heart? Did it make room for others? Did it foster harmony?

In his vision, religion was not about believing in God. It was about becoming more fully human—again and again, with tolerance and acceptance at the center of the effort.

Perhaps that is why his words endure. In a fractured world, Vivekananda reminds us that unity is not an idea to defend, but a way of being to practice—and that only through a serene soul can we truly see the beauty of the world, and our place within it.

Let us learn to see beauty in unity. It is the only way humanity sustains itself.

Meaningfully yours,
Anu Prabhala

PS: Swami Vivekananda delivered a series of six speeches between September 11 -27, 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Read a transcript of all six speeches here. Here’s an audio recording of his first speech (~28 minutes) delivered on September 11th, 1893.

Bio: Anu Prabhala is a senior consulting writer at the World Bank and a former French instructor who has spent her career working with nonprofit organizations in international development. Inspired by Vedanta, her personal writing explores travel and cross-cultural encounters as pathways to understanding beauty, wisdom, and our shared humanity.

This article, reprinted with permission from Anu’s Substack, Imperfectly Perfect, is part of a chapter from her forthcoming travel memoir, Imperfectly Perfect: Love Letters to the World | A Travel Memoir of Beauty, Scars, and the Human Spirit. To stay informed on the publication of the book, you can subscribe to Anu’s Substack at https://imperfectlyperfect.substack.com/subscribe (Subscription is free; choose “no pledge”).

A New Year’s Message, 2026

Amma’s New Year Message for 2026

Amma, the world-renowned spiritual teacher and a humanitarian leader from India, shared her thoughts on the current state of humanity as we welcome the new year. Her talk attended by several thousand residents and international visitors at her center in Kerala (South India) was broadcast live on YouTube. She included many illuminating stories and sublime points to help us grow spiritually, and to make our lives better. To conclude her remarks she urged everyone to follow these 12 suggestions, if we are serious about improving ourselves, our family life, and our the world. While she spoke in her native tongue of Malayalam, it was simultaneously translated in several European and Indian languages. We are pleased to share her suggestions (exhortations) with a few minor edits.

—editor

1. Since time cannot be postponed or carried forward into the future, use it with the utmost care. Create a daily routine and adhere to it as much as possible, with discipline.

2. Write down your personal weaknesses and negative habits on paper. Dedicate one specific day each week to consciously work on overcoming each of them.

3. Strive to be more mature and refined today—at least in one aspect of life—than you were yesterday.

4. Spend a little time each day cultivating awareness of nature. In your imagination, embrace and love all of creation.

5. Awaken the selfless love within you. Let love express itself through you every day. Care for at least one plant with devotion each and every day.

6. When praise or blame, victory or defeat comes your way, reflect deeply and remind yourself that your true Self transcends all of these.

7. Nurture the virtue of forgiveness. Generously forgive the mistakes of others—and learn to forget them as well. This will help both you and your relationships with others.

8. Every day, devote at least a short period to performing your actions with complete awareness and presence.

9. Use all natural resources with mindfulness and care. In life, place greater emphasis on what you have been able to give, rather than on what you have received.

10. Cultivate humility and simplicity. Respect the opinions of others and move forward through cooperation and mutual understanding.

11. Meditate on the form of your Guru—your spiritual teacher (if you don’t have one, you can meditate on supreme consciousness or the flame of a candlelight) for sometime each day. Then remain silent for a while, resting your attention in your own true nature.

12. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude for the blessings you have received in life. Also, learn to accept personal responsibility for your mistakes, sufferings, and losses—what could you have done differently to avoid them?

What we need is not a mind that revels in the little, but a mind that seeks the sublime. Awaken. Elevate yourself. And uplift others as well.

Fighting Antisemitism , Fighting Injustice

Fighting Antisemitism, Fighting Injustice

By Donna Nevel, Florida

When I think about how to end antisemitism, I feel grounded in principles I learned from my parents. They taught me to be proud of who I was as a Jewish person but never to think I was better than any other person, group, or community. They showed me by example that caring about antisemitism meant caring about anti-Black racism and all forms of injustice. They lived by these principles always, which inspired my love of being Jewish as well as my desire to participate in movements challenging injustice and for collective liberation.

Antisemitism is generally understood as discrimination against Jews, violence against Jews, or targeting Jews simply because they are Jewish. Sometimes antisemitism is expressed through stereotypes and generalizations about Jews.

Jews come from many different experiences and histories. There are white Jews, Jews of color, and Jews from different parts of the world (my family migrated to the United States from Eastern Europe). Antisemitism does not always look the same for each of these communities and groups; there are differences based on geographies, class and race, intersections with other political identities, and more.

Some examples of antisemitic violence in recent years in the US include the 2018 massacre of eleven congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; Jewish cemeteries being destroyed; and people who are visibly Jewish (wearing a skull cap or another Jewish symbol, for example) being attacked.

The most well-known example of antisemitic violence is the Nazi murder of six million Jews (the Holocaust). In 1933, there were nine million Jews in Europe. By 1945, the Nazis had exterminated approximately two thirds of European Jewry in death camps and through mass murders. The Nazis also targeted and murdered other groups and communities on a racial and political basis, including Roma, Poles, and other Slavic peoples, queer people, those with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and communists and members of political opposition groups.

Today, white nationalist violence–which, in many different, harmful ways, targets and denigrates Black people and other communities of color, trans and queer people, immigrants, Muslims, and Jews—is increasingly on the rise in many spheres of our society. White nationalist tactics include the use of conspiracy theories, among other manifestations. Antisemitic conspiracy theories promote notions of Jewish power and control and of Jews as untrustworthy and sinister.

Ending antisemitism also means understanding what is not antisemitism. False accusations of antisemitism are too often directed at those who criticize the State of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinian population. It is important to know that Palestinians had been living in Palestine for centuries before Israel was established. In that process, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or dispossessed from their lands and homes. (See more on Israel’s establishment/Zionism and the Nakba in note below.)

Antisemitism is directed at Jews as Jews. Criticism of Israel and/or its ideology is directed at a nation-state. Criticisms of Israel’s ongoing violence against the Palestinian people and the expulsion of Palestinians from their land and homes reflect a commitment to human rights and equal rights—and to what is just. Palestinians, Jews (such as members of Jewish Voice for Peace), and many others are committed to those principles. That is the furthest thing from antisemitism, and it is deeply harmful to suggest otherwise.

So, how can we participate in ending antisemitism? Antisemitism has its own distinct characteristics—as do other types of discrimination—and is also connected to other forms of racism and injustice that different communities experience. Therefore, thinking about ending antisemitism also means thinking about how to end all types of injustice. We know that fighting injustice against one group while being silent or supporting it against another group will bring justice for no one.

This is what it means to have a commitment to collective liberation—the belief that we all are entitled to live lives with justice and dignity. Collective liberation also means that we have each other’s backs and can count on one another to speak out when anyone or any group faces an injustice.

People of all ages can participate and take action in different ways although we know it is much harder in these repressive times. For students, that might include holding educational workshops (maybe at a community space or in a friend’s home) on pressing topics of interest or encouraging your schools to open up spaces for participation in social justice actions and discussion of issues of social concern (including the ways that false accusations of antisemitism have been used to shut down student protests in support of Palestine).

Throughout history and until now, Jewish people have been part of many movements devoted to their own safety and the safety of all people. Jews have joined together with others who care about the well-being of all our communities to fight against any form of racism and discrimination. For example, Jewish civil rights activists and labor activists joined together with all those committed to civil and human rights and economic justice. The fight against antisemitism is part of that larger struggle for justice.

A Note on Israel’s establishment/Zionism and the Nakba:
Zionism is the primary ideology that drove the establishment of a Jewish-majority nation-state in the land of historic Palestine. As nationalism rose in Europe in the late 19th Century and as antisemitism intensified, Jews responded in a number of different ways. Some Jews, notably Theodor Herzl, considered the father of modern Zionism, thought the solution to antisemitism was Zionism: the establishment of a nation state for Jews in Palestine. During the years leading to 1948, as part of the Zionist movement’s process of colonizing Palestine and establishing Israel, 750,000 Indigenous Palestinians living in Palestine were expelled from their land and homes. The “Palestinian Nakba (“Catastrophe” in Arabic) refers to the expulsion of over 750,000 Palestinians during the establishment of Israel as a Jewish majority country on land that had a two-thirds majority Palestinian Arab population. The Nakba is present-tense; the displacement of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian life has been ongoing for over a century.” —www.project48.com

Donna Nevel, a community psychologist and educator, is co-director, with Nina Mehta, of PARCEO, a resource and education center that partners with community groups and institutions seeking to deepen their organizing and educational work for justice. PARCEO has co-created and facilitates workshops on Antisemitism from a framework of collective liberation, from which this piece is drawn.

Beneath the Shade of Truth

By Nasiruddin Hamid, Qadian, Punjab, India.

In the 19th century, on a pleasant afternoon in August, in the serene mountains of Kashmir, Abdul Kareem, 65, and his grandson, Abdul Rahim, were watching their goats and sheep graze on the lush green mountain grass. The air was fresh and crisp, filled with the scent of wildflowers and pine trees. A gentle breeze swept across the hills, rustling the leaves and bringing a cool relief from the warmth of the sun. They were both leaning on a large, smooth rock, resting beneath the shade of tall trees, with the distant hills providing a protective embrace. The sound of the breeze and the peaceful bleating of the goats and sheep made the scene feel timeless.

Abdul Rahim, who was around 15 years old, began the conversation in gentle voice.

“Baba (grandfather/ father), are we Muslims?”

“Yes, dear, why?” answered Abdul Kareem.

“Are we the best people in the world just because we are Muslims?” asked Abdul Rahim.

“I don’t know, son,” replied Abdul Kareem.

“Why don’t you know, Baba? Our master, Molana Sadiq, says we are superior to all human beings. We rule the world, and after this life, we will go to heaven because we are true followers of the Prophet. Others will go to hell because they don’t worship Allah as we do,” said Abdul Rahim.

“I don’t know about being superior, son,” said Abdul Kareem.

“Did Molana Sahib (sir) lie to us then?” asked Rahim.

“No, son. Actually, Molana Sahib doesn’t truly know Almighty God. That’s why he says those inappropriate things about God,” said Abdul Kareem.

“How so? Please tell me, Baba Jan (dear grandfather),” said Rahim.

“Son, Allah doesn’t work the way we say or believe. He is far superior to what we think. He made this world according to His plans and will, but humans have degraded Him according to their own greed and desires. Every Molana (Maulana, a Muslim religious leader), Padri (a Christian priest), or Pandit (a Hindu scholar) claims that their religion is the true one, and others will go to hell. But they use God’s name only to serve their own selfish interests. They have turned God into a figure to scare innocent people. The truth is, God is not as horrible as they make Him out to be. We don’t know God or His ways. It is His will that He made some people beautiful and others not, some rich and others poor, some healthy and others sick. We cannot have complete knowledge of Him. That’s why we create stories about Him based on our own desires. Allah (God, in Islam) is for everyone, whether we believe in Him or deny Him. He doesn’t care about religions; He cares about humanity. People who love and care for humanity are the true believers of God, and they will be rewarded in this world and the next, if there is one. So, my son, just be a good human and respect everyone if you really want to succeed in life,” said Abdul Kareem.

The cool breeze continued to swirl around them, carrying the smell of the mountains as the sun began to dip behind the hills, casting long shadows across the grass. After saying this, both sat in silence, contemplating the words of wisdom, until dusk settled in. Then, they gathered their sheep and goats, and made their way back home, the rhythmic bleating of the flock echoing through the quiet, peaceful valley.

By Nasiruddin Hamid, Qadian, Punjab, India.

Chambered Nautilus Paintings

The Chambered Nautilus Dimensions of Our Lives

By Dennis Rivers, Oregon

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
—Rumi.

In the course of my lifetime of stumbling and struggling through meditation, study, prayer and ecological activism, I have become convinced of one thing: We are part of something much larger than ourselves, a living presence that supports us, constrains us, and calls to us. That Presence provides us with breath, light, food and a million companions, and also yearns to receive back from us something profound —a response, a conversation. I keep on thinking that the something given back out of gratitude must be more that the perpetual wars and oppression that have raged around the world most of my life.

Neils Bohr (Danish Nobel prize-winning physicist and philosopher) once observed that the opposite of an ordinary truth is a falsehood, but the opposite of a great truth is often another great truth. It is a great truth of human life that we each need to develop our abilities as deeply as we possibly can. It is also a great truth of human life that we need to honor and nurture the webs of life, people, lands and seas around us, in widening circles. I am convinced that the more powerful we become with new technologies, the more deeply true both the above truths become. In the dream geometry of the Chambered Nautilus paintings below, I experience a celebration of our infinite interwovenness, a celebration of our complex developmental journeys, and a celebration of the One Life that holds us all.

I am totally convinced that…
The deeper the ugliness we intend
to confront and mend in the world around us,
the deeper the beauty
we need to carry within us.

As you seek to mend
the wounds of this world,
may you bring beautiful new light
into every room your enter!

To download these pdf images, please click on the poster titles below.

Dreams of the Sea #1102

Dream Geometry Study

Dreams of the Sea #4

By Dennis Rivers, created with the assistance of artificial intelligence, Oregon. Dennis is our volunteer webmaster. Dennis created these paintings (with help from AI) to inspire people to see the world around them with new eyes, a world in which greed and war were no longer needed. He feels that these images carry wisdom from Mother Galaxy. He writes, “I love the infinite-spiral-speaking to-us-from-another-dimension feeling that they offer.”

Dennis has offered these images as free posters with inspiring messages, rather than as traditional over-the-couch wall art pieces. He is excited about the Public Domain—Belongs to Everyone—aspect of this project. You may also visit his website, EarthPrayer.net.

The Birth of the First Human

By Diponkar Chanda, originally from Bangladesh, Canada.

“While the story is not based on any specific folktale or myth from Bangladesh, it is inspired by the cultural storytelling style I grew up with—where themes of transformation, nature, and divine connection are often present. It is an original piece, drawn from imagination and shaped by a sense of spiritual curiosity.”

Long, long ago, trees of every kind embraced the soil, animals wandered freely through the wild, countless birds flew across the sky, and endless varieties of fish swam in the oceans. Insects crawled, flies glided—everything was alive and moving.
But one thing was missing.
There were no humans—nowhere in the world.

Yet, there were shadows. Shadows of many shapes, colors, and sizes. Small ones, tall ones, and those in between. They came in uncountable forms—silent, formless, and dreamless. Though they moved, they had no desires. Though they existed, they felt nothing.

But among them was one curious shadow.
He longed for more.

One day, he rose into the sky and reached the gates of heaven. There, he stood before God.
“What is it you seek?” God asked.
“I want to feel the world,” the shadow replied. “I want to be alive.”

God raised a glowing hand.

“I want to see,” said the shadow.
So God gave him eyes.

“I want to hear.”
God gave him ears.

“I want to taste.”
God gave him a tongue.

“I want to smell.”
God gave him a nose.

“I want to touch.”
And so God gave him skin—and with it, arms and legs—so he could walk and hold, run and rest.

In that moment, the shadow became the first human—alive with five senses and the gift of wonder.

With this miraculous transformation, the Earth itself stirred with change.
From that first human, more humans came—walking in sunlight and dreaming under moonlight.
And the world was never the same again.

—Diponkar Chanda is an emerging writer based in Toronto, Canada. Originally from Bangladesh, he writes stories and poetry that bridge cultures, languages, and imagination. English is not his first language, and he brings the rhythm and depth of his native Bengali into his storytelling. This is his first submission to a North American children’s publication.

An Interfaith Prayer of the Upward Path

By Dennis Rivers, Oregon

May I use
this painful moment,
to love more deeply

May I use
this painful moment,
to see more clearly

May I use
this painful moment,
to act more creatively

That all may be lifted up.

Amen.

By Dennis Rivers, Oregon. He adds: “We have within us a power of love greater than we know and much larger than who we think we are. That deep love hidden within us, is the sacred gift that we were born to offer each painful situation into which we will be thrown.”