Singing bowls ring out, candles are lit, and the sacred "Om," the sound of the universe, fills the high ceilinged room and goes on expanding into the wider world.

Silence falls.

And then there is little 1-year-old Jack Murphy, of Medford, in the aisle, banging on a singing bowl: bong, bonnngggggg.

"The next generation," Robin Noll says, and 200 people laugh as one.

Hindu prayer bowls and chanting are only a couple among the many spiritual traditions honored Thursday morning at the annual Ashland Interfaith Thanksgiving, a gathering at the First Methodist Church of Ashland’s Wesley Hall, which with this, its 20th edition, has become something of a tradition itself.

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American Indian sundancers, Christians, Muslims, Jews, New Agers and others gather to sing, light candles and honor each other. One after another they come forward to share spiritual perspectives.

"It’s a beautiful day," began sundancer Dave Chief. "When I woke up today I was happy."

Praying at times in the Sioux language, he asks blessings for the animals, the plants, the trees, the water.

Muslims Mary Foster and Abdi-Aziz Guled say whatever happens is a gift from God.

Fran Orrock, a Jew and a member of Temple Emek Shalom, says on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest time of the Jewish year falling in September or October, the sun traced a path of light through the new temple’s windows, as if testifying to the tradition in the Bible that men are God’s candles.

Sufi Khalil Elliott distinguishes between outer and inner thanksgiving. The former, he says, is about the harvest and is older than history. The second is "an attitude of gratitude."

Hindus Robin and Paul Noll blow conch horns in an ancient ritual.

"How much can you get a billion Hindus to agree on? That’s about it," Robin quipped.

Paul Noll thanked American Indians for not ordering a pre-emptive strike on the Mayflower, then gave away chocolate.

The Wallace-Hostetlers, Quakers, lead a singing of Joseph Bracket’s song "Simple Gifts" (‘Tis a gift to be simple/‘tis a gift to be free./’Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be.)

Bruce Newman, a Zen Buddhist, leads the traditional chant of Om Mani Padme Hum, calling for chanters to send rays of light from their hearts.

Everybody honors the Unitarian-Universalists, the Baha’i, the Wiccans, the Sufis, the New Agers. They meet their neighbors, hug each other, sing John Lennon’s "Imagine."

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,

I hope some day you’ll join us,

And the world will live as one.

And then there’s nothing to do but walk outside where the fog is lifting from the hillside and the light is starting to shine through.

Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail bvarble@mailtribune.com