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Parsippany, NJ - 2003 |
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WHAT IS HUMANLIGHT?There is no question that HumanLight is evolving into a solid secular alternative to other winter celebrations offered in our culture. This annual event, first held three years ago at a single location in Verona, New Jersey, has spread to 13 cities in 10 states around the country, including Florida, Arizona, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, Oklahoma, New Jersey, New York and California. There are indications that HumanLight might be celebrated internationally next year. HumanLight is the winter holiday for Humanists. It falls officially on December 23, but can be celebrated at the convenience of participants. Conceived by members of the New Jersey Humanist Network (NJHN), HumanLight continues to be jointly sponsored by NJHN and the Council for Secular Humanism. This year's event in New Jersey was celebrated on December 21 and drew more revelers than ever before - over 130 Humanists and their friends, including more than 20 children. It took place in the Grand Ballroom of the luxurious Parsippany Hilton where there were a few reminders that Humanists are not the dominant culture - there was a large wreath of evergreens over the dais (which did look pretty), and Christmas carols played over speakers in the men's room (where I once entered “to hear the angels sing”). So, why call it “HumanLight?” And why the logo, which is a stylized human figure, much like the AHA logo with arms joyously uplifted or, possibly, reaching out to embrace, in front of a glowing, orange sun? On the program, under the logo, a caption reads “The light of Human Reason, Hope and Compassion.” The current brochure goes into greater detail: HumanLight was conceived as an expression of specifically Humanist ideals and sentiments: the positive vision of a peaceful, ethical, enlightened, and happy world that we, as humans, can bring about without reliance on concepts of supernatural entities. HumanLight is an avenue through which we can wish others well during this season without denying, ignoring, or confusing our identities as Humanists. So HumanLight is about ideals and sentiments, a positive vision that, through human action, can change the world for the better. Both the name and logo are powerful symbols. They appeal to the senses, the mind, the emotions and the imagination all at the same time. They are shorthand ways of expressing a big idea. They allow us to project ever changing meanings onto them, as a gem refracts light differently depending on how you look at it. In fact, speakers at the last two celebrations have been inspired to interpret HumanLight in their own ways. The 2002 emcee, Dally Messenger, who is President of the International Federation of Celebrants, referring to both aspects of the logo, talked about the power of humans as analogous to that of the sun: Just as we are conscious of how the sun brings light and life to the physical universe, we realize that human beings can bring light and life to one another. Later, during that same event, I read from a letter I had written to my daughter in which I extolled HumanLight as standing for both illumination and warmth and thereby as symbols for human consciousness and compassion, dual sources for the best accomplishments in human history. This year's emcee, Amanda Chesworth (Director of Darwin Day, educational director of CSICOP and former coordinator of the Campus Freethought Alliance), also felt compelled to say what HumanLight meant to her. It stood for such things as human achievement, the light in our hearts, curiosity, the adventurous spirit in the quest for knowledge and relationships. It can be said that the aura of HumanLight infused all activities at our local celebration in New Jersey. Professional dancers Russ Fischer and his wife, Katy, in her shimmering dress, glided gracefully in a number of dances, which set a light, buoyant tone for the afternoon. The dancing was followed by a candle lighting ceremony, which is an opening highlight each year. In 2002 Joe Fox (one of the founders of HumanLight), his wife and children all participated in a celebration of the bonds of family. This year, Greg Young rolled up in his wheelchair to light the flame, which burned proudly as a salute to his recovery and his father's love. The awards ceremony started with Barry F. Seidman of CFI-NJ honoring several who carry the torch for humanism in New Jersey including the Fischers, Joe and Lisa Fox, Sarah Brown and Susan Seidman. Lisa Ridge, president of NJHN, then presented Harley Brown a special award for his years of leadership - the establishment of a scholarship fund, in his name, for kids to attend Camp Quest. Not for children only, but for anyone easily excited by the illuminating beam of science, a touring educational group called “Mad Science” demonstrated the properties of the different states of matter. And for the entertainment of all, Sonny Meadows, a folksinger, guitarist and composer, reprised his appearance from the year before with original songs in which HumanLight took a variety of forms, such as seasonal ornaments and gifts - Decorate the tree of knowledge and a beacon for wanderers - HumanLight - Shine so bright The counterpoint of darkness and light played as a recurring theme in the talk given by this year's keynote speaker, Rabbi Sherwin Wine, AHA Humanist of the Year and one of the founders of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, a nontheistic organization whose mission is to “celebrate Jewish identity and culture consistent with a Humanistic philosophy of life, independent of supernatural authority.” In a talk that was both somber and uplifting, Rabbi Wine took us back to the likely origin of winter celebrations of light - the fear that the darkness would literally triumph if something were not done, that the days would continually grow shorter, the sun would not return, the earth would grow cold and life would cease. While we know that it was not the magic of the rituals that brought the sun back, it most likely helped to dispel the very real shadows of fear that early peoples must have felt. In Rabbi Wine's philosophy, darkness and light are necessary counterparts. Religions deal with the two main areas of For Rabbi Wine, every aspect of life contains both light and dark, every solution has advantages and disadvantages. We must acknowledge this if we are to face life realistically. We must abandon utopian thinking. Secular Humanists do not live the life of faith so, according to Rabbi Wine, we must live the life of courage in order to push back, as much as possible, whatever darkness we find in life. The light to do so is in each of us. Our individual light can be intensified by the transcendent sense of connection we can feel toward other people and to the world around us. The light is hope. The light is the courage to face the truth, the power to improve the world and to strive for happiness. And the power in each of us, Rabbi Wine proclaims, is more than we imagine. Unlike other major winter holidays, there is no particular historical or mythical event that HumanLight celebrates. It is not about the life of any single heroic figure. It is about all of us. For me, HumanLight is, for one thing, a call to understand our own natures. And, to echo Rabbi Wine, it is the challenge of dealing with whatever personal darkness we face knowing that the “light” at the end of that tunnel is emergence into the possibilities of our own lives. HumanLight is something we must keep burning or it will lose its power and die. One way that HumanLight is kept kindled is by companionship. It is the glow that can arise by being in one another's company, the happiness that can be created, for example, when people of good will gather as a community to dine, share their thoughts, be entertained, celebrate their special bonds. It is in this spirit that HumanLight, as a holiday for Humanists, shows the promise of becoming an enduring tradition - a celebration with different meanings for each participant and pleasant memories for all. Barry Klassel |