Here is our Sunday Spirit message.

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"The essence of all religions is love, compassion, and tolerance. Kindness is my

true religion. The clear proof of a person's love of God is if that person
genuinely shows love to fellow human beings"
- The Dalai Lama

We are not pushing any particular religious barrow. We believe that we are
spiritual beings having a human experience. While there are many different
religions, they are in our opinion, merely differing opinions and ideas, at best
they are man's feeble attempts to explain the grandeur of a force or power that is
at the same time greater than us but dependent on us. We do believe that there is a
spiritual dimension to a well balanced life, but how you express that is your
personal choice.
- R&P
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"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if he or she were going to be dead by
midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster,
and do so with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again."
-Og Mandino

"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. You must
be able to sustain yourself against staggering blows. There is no code of conduct
to help beginners. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great
inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent."
- Sophia Loren
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Who Are You?

Minus the good and minus the bad,

Minus the happy and minus the sad,
Minus those who love you,
minus those who love you back and minus those who do not love, or even like you,
Minus your social standing and minus your financial position,
Minus the image you portray and minus the way that image is perceived,
Who are you?

In the first light of dawn, before you put on your worldly clothes,
In the last light of dusk, when you take them off,
Who are you?

Do you stand in awe of yourself as an incredible creation and view your life from
that point?

You have the miraculous ability to breathe, see, feel, hear, move, smell, touch and
love.
Is that not wonderful, or have you forgotten who you are beneath your earthly
cloak?

Young children know who they are.

Their mere existence is cause for celebration.
They run and jump and yell and sing and dance with a passion that rises from the
joy of being alive.
You had that same sense of awesome wonder - once.

Struggles and disappointments didn't destroy it.

You simply put it away and forgot about it.
There are flashes now and then, little reminders.
A thought you can't quite grasp.
A feeling that slips through your fingers.
A yearning that never completely goes away.

In the twinkling of a moment, you are here.

In the twinkling of another you are gone.
Everything in between is the completeness of your life,
not the separate compartments that push and pull and stretch you thin.

God gave you the whole and equal gift of life, and created you as its miracle.
You are never anything less, and no one can ever take it away from you.

Living in love and loving life,

Terri McPherson
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
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Tonight is a significant Festival Celebration for Hindu people as they celebrate

Diwali

One of the major festivals of Hinduism, it spiritually signifies the victory of

light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over
despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside
doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and
countries where it is observed. The festival preparations and rituals typically
extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with
the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika in Bikram Sambat
calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and
mid-November.

Before Diwali night, people clean, renovate, and decorate their homes and offices.
On Diwali night, people dress up in new clothes or their best outfit, light up
diyas (lamps and candles) inside and outside their home, participate in family puja
(prayers) typically to Lakshmi the goddess of fertility and prosperity. After
puja, fireworks follow, then a family feast including mithai (sweets), and an
exchange of gifts between family members and close friends.

Deepavali is linked to the celebration of Lakshmi, who is venerated amongst Hindus

as the goddess of wealth and prosperity and is the wife of Lord Vishnu. The 5-day
festival of Diwali begins on the day Goddess Lakshmi was born from the churning of
cosmic ocean of milk by the Devas (gods) and the Asuras (demons); while the night
of Diwali is the day Lakshmi chose Vishnu as her husband and they were married.
Along with Lakshmi, devotees make offerings to Ganesha, who symbolizes ethical
beginnings and fearless remover of obstacles; Saraswati, who embodies music,
literature and learning and Kubera, who symbolises book-keeping, treasury and
wealth management.

On the same night that Hindus celebrate
called Diwali to mark the attainment of
Chhor Divas to mark the release of Guru
Newar Buddhists, unlike the majority of
Lakshmi.
Diwali, Jains celebrate a festival also
moksha by Mahavira, Sikhs celebrate Bandi
Hargobind from a Mughal Empire prison, and
Buddhists, celebrate Diwali by worshipping

Diwali or Deepavali is celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere

(spring in southern hemisphere). It is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India,
Pakistan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and
Trinidad and Tobago.

To our Indian friends in Singapore tonight will be a big light up in Little India
and much food will be eaten and a jolly good time wil be had by all. Serangoon Road
will be crowded. Happy Diwali.
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Hugs, Health, Happiness and Harmony :-)

Rod and Pauline Hyatt