On Friday February 20 at 6pm at the Clapp Memorial Library, Edward Tick will share the spiritual and communal meaning of Tết, the Lunar New Year, and how it is celebrated in Viet Nam. He will contrast the violent experiences of the 1968 Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War with the beautiful and peaceful meaning of the holiday and share how honoring this holiday helps bring healing to veterans of the Vietnam War, their family members, and to all of us in global relationships.

The Lunar New Year occurs this year on Feb. 17, so this week is Tet, beginning the Year of the Horse. It is the most sacred time in the Vietnamese/Asian annual cycle, the most important annual holiday, and lasts for nine days. Its celebration is thousands of years old. Tet is a time for family and community renewal, reconnection with nature, welcoming Spring, honoring ancestors, and preparing for a prosperous year. But Tet is also known in the U.S. as the terrible 1968 Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War and many veterans still dread the time. We can help bring peace, reconciliation, and healing by changing the way we understand, carry, and honor this event.

Since 2000, Edward Tick has led 19 reconciliation journeys to Viet Nam including bringing American veterans there on Tet. He  will share stories, teaching, and sacred practices, and read from his poetry collection, Coming Home In Viet Nam, composed during his two decades leading American veterans and their communities on annual healing journeys of atonement, reconciliation, and restoration in Viet Nam.