The annual circuit of the sun across the sky, the changing faces of the moon, the coming of the rains or the harvest— these were the sacred markers for our ancestors, the guides by which they set sacred times and outlined the sacred year. For several years, I have edited a calendar of interfaith holidays and observances for the Silicon Valley Conference for Community and Justice. The purpose of the calendar is to enable school administrators, business leaders, and others to have some awareness of religious days that their employees or students might be honoring.

This month, the celebration of Easter displays a fascinating interaction of religious calendars. In the Western Christian tradition, Easter is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. The earliest possible day it can be is March 22; this year it falls on March 23. (This will be the earliest any of us will ever see; it will be 95 years before it is again so early!)

Ironically, one reason that the usually solar-based Christian calendar includes a lunar factor is because the Jewish Calendar is lunar-based, and Easter is calculated to occur at Passover time. However, the Jewish Calendar has its own system for correlating the lunar year with the solar year, and so Passover will not take place until a month from now (April 19). The Eastern (Orthodox) Christian tradition will celebrate Easter in April, to align with Passover.

The Interfaith Calendar is available at the SVCCJ website. A beautiful wall calendar of interfaith holidays is available from the Multifaith Action Society in Vancouver.

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The Winter issue of the NAIN newsletter is now online; it includes interesting news about interfatih work regarding hunger as well as information and registration for the upcoming NAIN connect gathering that we are hosting this coming July. Take a look!

Andrew Kille

You may have noticed that the Bay Area Interfaith Connection has not been so connected recently. On Christmas Day, I (Editor Andrew Kille) was walking by the Sacramento River with my son when I slipped, fell, and fractured my left pelvis severely.

I underwent surgery to repair the break, but suffered a number of unexpected complications that have set back my recovery significantly. I am in a rehabilitation center learning to walk and move again, and the target is to get me back home in another couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I have had limited web connectivity, and have not been able to update the calendar as I would have wished. We hope this will be a temporary glitch for keeping you informed about important interfaith events in the area.

Andrew Kille