As Christmas and the end of the Gregorian calendar year approach, I see many questions on my Facebook feed, asking: Do Baha’is celebrate Christmas? And if so, how do they commemorate the occasion? 

As a community, Baha’is are encouraged to emphasize celebrating Baha’i Holy Days and discontinue celebrating other religious Holy Days —because, otherwise, why would we have Baha’i Holy Days? However, the global governing body of the Baha’i community, the Universal House of Justice, wrote in a 1989 letter to a Baha’i: 

… there is no harm in Baha’is sharing Christmas with Christian relatives or friends. Indeed, families may contain both Baha’is and non-Baha’is, and the participation by Baha’is at celebrations of Christmas or of other religious observances, should not be made into a source of conflict but rather be used as an opportunity for demonstrating the honor due to other religions and also as an incentive for developing the celebration of Baha’i Holy Days and anniversaries.

I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately, especially as we hunker down for a lonelier winter in this global pandemic. 

Having been brought up a Baha’i myself, my parents worked hard to instill a Baha’i identity in our family.  The Baha’i Faith has few traditions, which could also be considered as habits that we strive to implement in our day to day lives, such as prayer and service. This meant my family observed Baha’i Holy Days and other significant days — such as Ayyam-i-Ha; Naw Ruz; Ridvan; and the birth of the Twin Manifestations, the Bab and Baha’u’llah — with unique activities surrounding gift-giving, hospitality, service, and charity. We invited our extended family, friends, and neighbors to join us in our ever-evolving family traditions.

RELATED: Every New Era Brings A New Calendar

In my childhood and youth in Australia, we celebrated Christmas with my father’s side of the family, who carry strong Irish Catholic traditions. Every year after my grandma attended mass, we gathered at a long grouping of tables covered in Christmas crackers and decorations, put on colorful paper crowns, and enjoyed cold cuts, salads, and a BBQ on the back patio by the pool, in our swimsuits, on a hot Australian Christmas Day. We’d exchange very basic gifts around a decorated, well-lit, plastic Christmas tree. What really stuck with me was the time we spent together: simple but profound.   

Fast-forward about 20 years: I’ve moved to Canada and found myself a wonderful Prairie husband, who discovered and adopted the Baha’i Faith in his youth. I love his parents to bits and have loved joining in on their Ukrainian-influenced Roman Catholic Christmas celebrations the past couple of years that we’ve been together (the Saskatchewan winters, not so much!). 

This will be the first year we won’t be joining my husband’s family for Christmas, and the first one my husband has missed in his entire life, all because of this darn pandemic. For the first time in both our lives, no external circumstances or forces are influencing either of us to celebrate Christmas. However, I feel this sense of longing for celebrating something this year. For as long as I can remember, this festive period between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve has always been filled with so much warmth, joy, service, the presence of God, and the coming together of families and friends. So how do Baha’is celebrate the true meaning of Christmas while still honoring their Baha’i beliefs?

I turned to Facebook to see how other Baha’i families celebrate this festive season while also strengthening their own traditions as a family. The following suggestions could be adapted for many holy days and faith traditions — not just Christmas. Not all are suitable for people following serious social distancing restrictions, but there are definitely ones that we can try and adopt to some degree, or look forward to trying when we can all be together again.

Take Time to Talk About it:

Come together as a family or as a group of friends, and discuss how you would like to create family traditions surrounding all holidays. This conversation could look at the yearly calendar, the various community groups and circles you are a part of, and the different faiths and traditions you want to honor as a family, including Baha’i, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Christian, and other traditionally spiritual Holy Days. Having a conversation and making a decision as a family builds unity and gives room for all to contribute creatively.  

Create an Interfaith Calendar:

You could create an interfaith calendar of all the religious traditions and holy days. Learn how your Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah, and light a Menorah for each of the eight days. Celebrate Diwali in your home with your Hindu friends, or offer to cook dinner for your Muslim friends during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. There are so many other important religious holy days to commemorate during the Christmas period that we can nurture and learn from. 

Decorate Your Space:

Many of us find joy and comfort in decorations and festive lights throughout the year — and they’re especially lively during the dead of winter. You can decorate your home with winter-inspired decorations and call it a “winter wonderland” or “winter festival.” Children could come together to create decorations and ornaments that inspire peace, unity, and joy, place them around the house or gift them to neighbors. 

RELATED: How Interfaith Prayer Gatherings Are Changing Communities

Make Meals Meaningful: 

Instead of decorations, some families opt to dress their best and have a special meal together. I read that one Baha’i family uses this time to bake together, and while they bake, they consult on various service ideas for the upcoming calendar year. They then gift their food and baking to friends in the neighborhood or people in need. Another Baha’i family hosts a special dinner to invite friends who did not receive an invitation to Christmas dinner. 

RELATED: Family Meals: A Space to Bond, Reconnect, and Heal

Get Creative With Gifts: 

Many families save the Christmas gifts they received for opening in late February during the Baha’i festival of Ayyam-i-Ha. Some receive gifts at Christmas and distribute gifts on Baha’i Holy Days. Others pass on participating in Christmas gift exchanges with family and instead find ways they could collectively be of service to their community. 

Bring People Together to Pray: 

One person shared that they host an annual interfaith prayer gathering for their friends and neighbors on the theme of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. They include writings from Christianity and the Baha’i Faith that highlight the station of Jesus and his importance to the world —  like these words from Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith:

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified… We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.

Watch Some Movies:

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a sucker for holiday movies on the Hallmark Channel. But if I want to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, I think the best way to do this is to watch a documentary that tells the story of the courageous life of Jesus Christ himself, to learn of his miracles and sacrifices. 

Be of Service: 

Another way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas is to focus on the concept of service and giving. There are many ways to do this. One could be to pack meals and deliver them to the homes of elderly neighbors. Another could be to offer a hand at the local shelter for their annual Christmas feast. People who work shift jobs sometimes offer to cover the shift of their Christian co-workers so that they can celebrate Christmas with their families. Service could also mean coming together with some others to clean up a local park or planning a small neighborhood children’s festival that focuses on joy and service. 

One thing is for sure: there are many ways for Baha’is — and people of other faiths — to inclusively take part in the spirit and festivities of the season while also strengthening their family and faith traditions. The beauty is that there’s room for creativity, flexibility, and honoring the meaning of Christmas, no matter what faith you are.

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The National Alliance on Mental Illness is celebrating 39 years of providing mental health resources to Berkshire County.

The non-profit organization will mark the anniversary on Sept. 19 with an annual meeting and awards dinner at Proprietor’s Lodge from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The evening will feature dinner, live music, games, and special guest Ken Duckworth, the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and author of “You Are Not Alone.”

“This is an annual event that we hold which recognizes mental health professionals or individuals within the community who are doing outstanding work to support mental health needs,” Berkshire County Executive Director Melissa Helm said.

The national organization’s goal is to improve the lives of people with mental illness through support, education, and advocacy.

Helm said Berkshire County chapter has undergone substantial growth in the last couple of years. She took office in November 2021 as the first full-time executive director.

“Having that switch from really our capacity for time and resources to serve the community has been huge for us,” she said.

“We’ve been able to double our operating budget from the one I started with, so from 2021 to 2022, and continue to grow it this year in 2023, which has allowed us to introduce new youth mental health programming.”

The organization has been running new partnerships with the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in which it brings high school-aged youth in for a mental health retreat day.

“So just giving them some time and space to really explore what works for them as far as positive self-care practices,” Helm said. “And that’s something completely new to us. We hadn’t worked within the school districts before. It’s a big passion project of mine.”

She pointed out that 50 percent of lifetime mental health conditions present themselves around this age and that 75 percent present by the age of 24.

“We’re really hitting a prime time when we’re serving those youth in high school who might just be getting ready to go off into college or take that next step in their adult lives, whatever that might look like,” she added.

“And just making sure that they have the tools to best take care of themselves.”

The organization has also grown its support groups, which have been run since its inception but were historically only support groups for family members, caregivers, and loved ones of a person living with a mental illness. Last year, peer support groups were introduced for people living with mental health conditions.

Helm pointed out that all of NAMI’s programming is free and available to anyone who needs it.

“We’re just continuing to explore the needs in the community and how we can help to meet those needs,” she said.

“Specifically something that we’ll be talking about at this year’s annual meeting is the progress being made towards crisis intervention training for police and first-responders and the new partnership with South Hadley Police Department, who we will be working closely with, and also the introduction of a new crisis intervention partners program that coincides with crisis intervention training.”

The goal of the crisis intervention partners program is to help other frontline professional organizations outside of, and including, first responders and law enforcement be able to better recognize a mental health crisis and the steps that they can take to help that individual in the moment and resources that can be used outside of just calling the police.

Helm also spoke to the landscape of mental health care coming out of the pandemic.

“It’s a challenging time to be in mental health care. It’s not unique to the Berkshires but certainly a challenge here that we don’t have enough mental health providers to go around,” she said.

“I think that’s a twofold result both of the pandemic exacerbating mental health conditions and also sort of the stigma being chipped away at. People are more open to talk about their experiences than they were in the past and just sort of more aware of what might be going on with them so that’s a really good thing that people are having more of an openness to seek help.”

As a community organization, NAMI is working to help create additional support for people who are on a waitlist for therapy or at any stage in their mental health journey.

NAMI is seeking nominations for two award categories: the Eunice E. Zorbo Citizen of the Year Award and the Silver Ribbon Award.

The Zorbo Award recognizes someone who has shown an understanding of mental illnesses and advocates for improvement in the treatment of those who live with mental illnesses and their caregivers and the Silver Ribbon Award recognizes an outstanding advocate in the mental health field.

The event, sponsored by Berkshire Bank, will also include a meet and greet and book signing with Duckworth.

Tickets are on sale for $35 while supplies last at namibc.org.

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There’s a collective desire for real, transformative change permeating the local fashion industry, and with circular solutions — innovations and systems that design out or repurpose potential waste — considered the future of fashion and gaining traction, it’s an exciting time.

In recent years, we’ve seen local designers (many of whom benefit from the smaller scale and nimble operating common in the New Zealand market) repurposing textiles, incorporating recycling, and eliminating waste.

Sisters and co-founders of the Gattung Foundation Angela (left) and Theresa Gattung. Photo / Babiche Martens

The ambitious, hopeful initiative aims to inspire and support designers to reimagine how they approach and use textiles, and acknowledges exceptional work, underscored by both industry knowledge and mātauranga Māori and holistic and regenerative indigenous practices.

Notably, the awards are “place-based”, with entrants tasked with creating circular solutions to local and regional textile waste. The design brief (which you can find in full detail here) asks entrants to design and create a wearable garment using textile waste — categorised as pre or post-consumer waste, including unwearable clothing, sourced from within Aotearoa — alongside a plan for the garment’s life cycle, exploring and sourcing from their region.

Entry is open to individuals or collectives (all entrants must be over the age of 16, and New Zealand citizens or permanent residents) and the entry fee is $40, or $25 for students.

Up to 10 finalists will be selected and invited to attend the award presentation event, each receiving prize packages valued at $2500, including invaluable mentorship and exposure. Additionally, there are three major awards: creative excellence, innovation with commercial potential, and emerging talent, with winners receiving prizes valued at $7500. The prize pool totals an impressive $40,000 (contributed by the Gattung Foundation, and the awards’ other sponsors and partners).

The awards will be judged by respected industry figures: business leader and philanthropist Theresa Gattung, founder and CEO of Untouched World Peri Drysdale, Viva creative and fashion director Dan Ahwa, stylist and Viva contributor Chloe Hill, textile artist Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa and Emily Miller Sharma, co-founder of Mindful Fashion and general manager of Ruby and Liam.

Maungarongo Ron Te Kawa. Photo / Hohua Ropate Kurene

Mindful Fashion hopes the award programme will resource a cohort of design talent, while also inspiring wider change, shifting attitudes and, most importantly, sharing knowledge.

“The aim of our Circular Design Award is to inspire Kiwi creatives to reimagine how clothing is designed, made and circulated to keep these valuable resources in use,” says Jacinta FitzGerald, chief executive of Mindful Fashion. “Each year, millions of tonnes of clothing is produced, worn and thrown away, with more than 85 per cent not finding its way into recycling or circular systems.”

New Zealanders create our fair share of waste — 220,000 tonnes of textile waste every year in fact — but it doesn’t have to be like this. Textiles can be repurposed, recycled, and a circular economy offers a sustainable, waste-minimising alternative to sourcing virgin materials and the (well-documented) environmental and social issues that this system can cause.

“We are excited to be providing a platform for innovation away from current wasteful systems,” says FitzGerald, and the organisation hopes to create a thriving future for our local industry.

Viva is proud to be the media partner for the Mindful Fashion Circular Design Award, and we look forward to sharing more news about the initiative with our readers in the coming months.

Applications close July 14, with finalists selected November 24 and the awards presentation scheduled to take place in December.

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“Today is a great day for our service members and our nation,” Teri and Patrick Caserta — the parents behind The Brandon Act — exclusively tell PEOPLE

Courtesy Teri Caserta Teri and Patrick Caserta

The U.S. will soon enact The Brandon Act’s mental health measures to prevent suicide in the military — and the parents behind the law tell PEOPLE exclusively that their late son’s legacy will “forever live on” in the new policies.

Sitting in their Peoria, Arizona, home, Patrick and Teri Caserta frequently glance at their hutch holding the remains of their only child, Brandon.

Brandon, an aviation electrician third class, died by suicide on June 25, 2018, on the flight line at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. After his death at age 21, his parents and friends discovered six notes in which Brandon explained he was hazed and bullied by members and leaders of his Navy helicopter squadron.

After five years of lobbying for confidential military mental health benefits, the Casertas are grateful the Pentagon will announce the enacted measures on Friday, May 5. It will allow others with mental health issues like Brandon to receive help without retaliation, reprimand or going through their chain of command.

“Today is a great day for our service members and our nation to know that DoD has signed The Brandon Act into implementation,” the couple tells PEOPLE.

“Brandon’s legacy of saving lives will forever live on through The Brandon Act and The Brandon Caserta Foundation. We are losing far too many to suicide. Suicide is tragic and senseless. It is 100% preventable. This allows our military force to be stronger and more mentally fit,” adds the couple.

Courtesy Teri Caserta Brandon Caserta

The Brandon Act protects all levels of military personnel and ranks. Service members can invoke The Brandon Act for any issue they may struggle with and encounter, the Casertas said. That includes depression, anxiety, sexual assault/harassment, retaliation, bullying, hazing, toxic and abusive leadership, abusive power, any type of discrimination, disability, gambling and alcohol issues.

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As soon as service members self-report, they will undergo a mental health evaluation. It requires the U.S. Department of Defense to provide annual training on how to recognize when members may need a mental health evaluation.

Related:Navy Veteran Launches Organization to Provide Suicide Intervention Training for Families

Courtesy Teri Caserta Brandon and Patrick Caserta

“Taking care of our people remains a priority for leaders in the Department of Defense and the Department is committed to making lasting, substantial change to improve mental health and address suicide,” Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, tells PEOPLE in a statement.

“We are diligently working to implement National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2022 legislation (Section 704), known as the Brandon Act. Once implemented, service members will be able to request a mental health evaluation for any basis, by initiating a referral through a commanding officer or supervisor,” adds the official. “The new process will require the commander or supervisor to refer the service member to mental health provider and protect the confidentiality of the service member to the maximum extent practicable in accordance with applicable laws and DoD policy.”

Adds Martinez-Lopez: “As the Department continues to work to reduce mental health stigma and encourage help seeking, we want to reinforce that there is a full continuum of mental health and wellness support available worldwide. There are specialty and primary care clinics, embedded behavioral health providers within units, and virtual health platforms.”

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U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) announced Dec. 15, 2021, that the Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that included the Brandon Act.

“For months, I worked with Republicans and Democrats to get the language of the Brandon Act in the defense bill,” Kelly said in a statement at the time.

“Thanks to the tireless advocacy of Teri and Patrick Caserta, and bipartisan support in Congress, our efforts will help us confront military suicide head-on and save the lives of other young service members,” Kelly continued.

Courtesy Teri Caserta Patrick and Teri Caserta

Moulton, the bill’s author, added. “America’s service members shouldn’t have to settle for a broken system that’s incapable of providing them with the mental health support they need, and today’s vote means they no longer have to. This bill is an important piece of Brandon’s legacy — one that will save the lives of so many great American heroes. I’m proud of his parents for fighting to make sure that families of other service members never have to share their experience, and I look forward to continuing to do this work alongside them.”

Related:How to Recognize When a Loved One May Be Considering Suicide, and the Best Ways to Help

According to the 2021 DoD annual report on suicide in the military, 519 service members died by suicide with “young, enlisted male service members found to be at greatest risk.”

The report showed suicide rates for active service members have increased since 2011, although 2021 was lower than 2020. Firearms were the primary method of suicide deaths.

Courtesy Teri Caserta Teri and Brandon Caserta

In addition to having a “great personality,” Teri says her son was “funny, very kind and very generous.”

That makes The Brandon Act the perfect way to honor his legacy. “He really would give the shirt off his back for someone,” she says.

“Here’s a cute little story,” she recalls. “When Brandon started all-day school, we had to set up an account so he could buy his lunch. We noticed that it was dwindling quite fast.”

Courtesy Teri Caserta

His parents asked if he was eating two lunches. Brandon wasn’t — he was purchasing meals for less fortunate kids. Teri told him to continue, which he did through high school.

“He would help anybody who was struggling, whether it was mentally or academically or even with extracurricular activities like track and football,” she says. “He did have the biggest, brightest smile. And he would light up a room when he smiled.”

Related: Parents Who Lost Son to Suicide Ask Strangers to Scatter His Ashes Around the World: ‘This Has Changed Lives’

His decision to join the military caught his parents by surprise. A 22-year retired Navy senior chief, Patrick tried to sway his son’s thoughts, but Brandon was adamant.

“We didn’t know why,” he says. “Then we thought about it. He was in swimming and karate since he was 4. He was in sports year-round, and it made sense.”

Courtesy Teri Caserta Brandon Caserta

Brandon’s goal was to join a police force’s SWAT unit, but he couldn’t do so until he was 21. They said he thought becoming a SEAL would look good on his resume. To support their son, the Casertas bought him a SEAL mask, goggles, fins, snorkel, swimsuit and weightlifting equipment.”

“He wanted this weighted vest that I bought for him,” Patrick says. “I swear, it was like 300 lbs. I still have it and he would run with that on.”

The last time they saw their son was during a visit to Krispy Kreme on the way to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix for Brandon’s return flight. Each of them was in tears.

Courtesy Teri Caserta Brandon Caserta

At work on June 25, 2018, Brandon told a plane captain — over helicopter noise — “I’m sorry for what you are about to see,” ran to the rotating rear tail rotor, jumped, missed and then jumped again and made contact.

“He did this in front of his command and flight line,” Patrick said. In response, they founded the Brandon Caserta Foundation to provide assistance, guidance, education and resources to active-duty service members, veterans and their families.

“We love our military and service members,” Teri said. “That is why we created and lobbied hard for The Brandon Act. We know the Brandon Act along with the other DoD resources will save military lives.”

You can find more information about Brandon Caserta Memorial Scholarship here, and learn more about The Brandon Caserta Foundation here.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.

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