2009 Theme: Reflections of Joy

All religions, cultures and societies recognize that human beings have a huge capacity and need for joy. It is in joy that we can find inspiration, peace and love. It is joy that often propels us to connect to one other, to our natural surroundings and to the divine. Our very souls can virtually burst in response to a child’s sound, to the intensity of color in the rising sun or to a musical interlude.

Responses to joy take many forms, the visual being only one. This year’s invitation for artistic submissions on the theme of joy received a response from more than 80 artists, giving us a welcome selection from which to choose. The Multifaith Action Society thanks all the artists for their participation. We are pleased to offer here our choice of visual reflections of joy to augment the textual information in this edition of The Multifaith Calendar. We hope that both visual art and written word will work together in support of better understanding of religious and cultural traditions.

The Multifaith Calendar provides valuable information about fourteen different faith groups. Their major holidays are noted and explained. We trust that this publication can be a valuable source of information to support understanding of religious and cultural traditions and to extend not just tolerance, but more importantly, appreciation.