Towards a Culture of Love - An Interfaith Gathering on New Year's Eve

Program Date and Time: Thursday, December 31, 2026 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM PST

This event is presented in collaboration with Mindful Heart Programs and La Casa de Maria.

For the past 10 years, we have lived in a culture of divisiveness. We’ve seen it in our politics, our news feeds, and sometimes at our own dinner tables. On the last afternoon of 2026, we will gather in the Terrace Room at La Casa de Maria to practice another way.

Religious leaders from Santa Barbara’s faith communities will speak from their traditions about a teaching many of us share: to try to love your neighbor as yourself. That includes the neighbor who doesn’t pray as we pray or vote as we vote. A culture of love is built person to person, through a kind word, a prayer offered for someone who would not pray for us, or a hand held open where a fist used to be.

Love of this kind takes courage. It asks us to stand with the vulnerable and to stay soft-hearted without being naive. And it begins with ourselves, with the willingness to set down our resentments and judgments so there is room for others. Together we will listen, sit in silence, and go home with one practice to carry into 2027.

With us will be Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Native Americans, and Buddhists, each sharing from their rich traditions. Poets and musicians will join us. People of all traditions, and of none, are welcome.