A Spiritual, Spirited Celebration

The stark white afternoon sun dropped in the Sunday sky, turning warm shades of red as it fell behind the sea. The second day of a new year came to a close in Huntington Beach.

But the sunset was simply a spectacular backdrop to a diverse gathering of more than 1,000 near the town’s famed pier.

As a klezmer band performed a raucous “Hava Nagila” in Yiddish, members of a Mormon choir stamped their feet and clapped their hands while waiting to take the stage.

A Buddhist professor called for happy minds for all beings “minuscule as an atom or fat, seen or unseen, living nearby or far away, born or seeking to be born.”

A Islamic community leader read from the Koran the words of the prophet Muhammad that mankind was made “into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other.”

Worshipers from more than a dozen faiths gathered late Sunday for the Procession of Light 2000, to mark the start of a new century and new millennium. The event, designed to kick off a year filled with special community activities, brought prayers of all kinds.

The celebration cost about $10,000, which was raised mostly through donations.

“The city asked us to start off the whole year,” said Father Christian Mondor, who serves on the city’s Interfaith Council and is the pastor of Saints Simon & Jude Roman Catholic Church. “Our response was bringing together the whole spectrum of Huntington Beach to ask for God’s blessing as we begin a new millennium.”

The purpose for many of those gathered was to begin on a note of faith and unity. Recalling that the 1900s had been punctuated by cruelty, bigotry and hatred, many of the religious leaders expressed hope that the years ahead will be different.

“We pray this will be a new time, marked by more than the turning of the calendar,” said Regina Front of Temple Beth David in Westminster.

Carlos Reynosa, a Native American musician, showed his handmade flute to the crowd.

“This instrument was banned by the church and state at one time,” he said before playing a haunting solo, as chilly winds blew in from the ocean.

For Reynosa and Dr. John Jeffredo of the Maritime Shoshone Tribe of Huntington Beach, the afternoon was also a chance to remind those gathered of traditions that had been lost or destroyed.

“Arrogance and greed arrived with the European settlers,” said Jeffredo, who also warned that society would be doomed to repeat the mistakes it chose not to remember.

In the twilight, a 350-strong choir joined together to sing “God Bless America.” Then, as a lone bagpiper played the first verse of “Amazing Grace,” hundreds of people carried electric candles in a procession along the pier.

Walking two-by-two, the crowd stretched more than halfway down the pier, marching from one end to the other.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said Phil Bellon of Huntington Beach. “The community coming together to care about each other this way was very uplifting to me. This is what gives you a focus for this year--to start it with a special feeling.”