An Attitude of Gratitude Brings Great Things!
Dear community members and friends,
It’s hard to believe it has been over 3 months since our virtual AGM, where our community ‘virtually’ connected for the first time ever. I am grateful to everyone who was able to attend. It was a grand success as we had over 75 members participate, the most I have experienced in my 15+ years of being involved with ZAC. I am thankful to our past and continuing board members for their selfless commitment towards serving our community, and am excited to welcome our newly-appointed board members. We are fortunate to continue to have a magnificent group with bright ideas, high energy, and great dedication to ZAMC!
The pandemic slowed our ability to host events earlier this year and we greatly appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding. In the spirit of maintaining an attitude of gratitude, I would like to point out that though there have been many challenges in this past year, there is still a lot to be grateful for.
After the virtual AGM, regained momentum by hosting our first-ever virtual Muktad Prayers. The prayers were well-attended by our community members (50-75 attendees daily!) and it was exciting to see our children participate too. We would like to thank all our Priests for conducting these prayers. Similarly, virtual Jashans and Gambhars have also been conducted and we are grateful to the leadership of Ervad Pesi Vazifdar in orchestrating these ceremonies. Ervad Jamshed Ravji and Ervad Pesi Vazifdar continued the Daily Priest services despite our center being closed due to the pandemic. We thank them for their dedication to the spiritual well-being of our community.
On the education and social fronts, our monthly Children’s Religious Class is still being virtually conducted and we are grateful to Zenobia Damania, Persis Driver, Persis Guard, and Khursheed Ichaporia for their continued leadership with this initiative. We also thank Yazmin Rustomji for organizing and facilitating the Bingo event for our Senior citizens and the Kids Game Night.
As we understand the importance of community connectedness, especially during such challenging times, ZAC now has our own Zoom subscription which allows us to maintain regular community connections. We are working diligently to find ways to virtually connect and engage our community more frequently. I urge and encourage all of you to share any event ideas that will bring our community together and keep us connected during these unprecedented times.
While we are certainly experiencing some challenging times, I truly believe that tough times don’t last forever, but the tough do! Let’s stay positive, cherish every moment, and never forget to offer our gratitude to Ahura Mazda!
Hamāzor Hamā Ashō-bēd! May we all be united in strength and righteousness!
Atha Jamyad Yatha Afrinami! May we achieve what we have prayed for.
~ Afshan Barshan – ZAMC President