Children’s Day Lights the Season

By Ben Black —

The magic of family, community, song, and light were as powerful as ever during Childrens Day 2015 at the Seattle Shambhala center. As the children’s procession entered the candle-lit shrine room, Debbie Newell and Dave Tallent sang “Finlandia.” The celebration included a children’s Ikebana session led by Shelley Pierce, a Jingle Bells sing along, an offering of gifts, and lots of good food. Parent Bart Ozretich led the tigers in their song.

Laughter and smiles filled the shrine room as 25 children and their families watched a children’s performance of Iliana: A Winter Solstice Tale, by Walter Fordham, with stupendous and joyful effort by the 4- to 12-year-old actors. The Iliana story presents basic human values of courage, dignity, inner strength, and wisdom as empowerments possessed by all children. Gabe Jones acted the lead role. Since he is a boy, this time, the hero was named “Iliano.” Greg and Jessica Wolk served as the “King and Queen” for this event, and also acted as hosts, handing out gifts and embodying a spirit of fun and liveliness. Sue Lesser and Paul Biedler set the spirit to music with a concert of mandolin duets. A traditional Children’s Day Shrine featured symbols of the King and Queen, plus the four dignities, and offerings of bright candles and lights. Robin Willet did a fantastic job of directing the children and overseeing the event.

(Editor’s Thanks: We can thank Ben Black for his reporting and photography of this luminous Shambhala event. Anyone who would like to follow his example can e-mail stories and photos to me. I’ll mildly edit and post them. – Larry Steele, [email protected] )