I have been working for the Faith side of the Faith, Community & Equalities team @Campus Life for about 2 years. I get asked regularly “Colette, what faith are you?” and I struggle to give an answer. Also introducing myself in meetings is odd as we have the Muslim Chaplain, the Christian Chaplain, the Catholic priest, and me.
I was brought up a Christian by my Mum, went to church every Sunday and was christened & confirmed. I was married in a church and both my kids have been christened, did we do this because we are religious or did we do this because it was expected? Honestly, I am not too sure! My Mum’s funeral was to my mind religious. My Dad, when asked said he lent towards Buddhism but didn’t practice and his funeral was humanistic. My father was also a martial arts master and I was brought up with him practicing tai-chi, kung-fu and meditating, which at the time was painfully embarrassing in my immature mind, not entirely sure when I became more like him but I too now practice yoga, teach pilates and have been known to partake in the odd chant, even spent this spring equinox ecstatic dancing on the side of a cliff. Middle aged hippy madness hey!
I remember the first time going to meditation on the Singleton Campus and it was led by the Christian Chaplain (Mandy Williams) in what was then the Chaplaincy. I was slightly nervous to say the least, my only dealings with religious people up to that point was being a child and the scary man in a black dress who shouted at us from the pulpit on a Sunday morning, never entirely sure what it was he said but I remember thinking I need to be a good person or awful things may happen. Whether or not God or fate had a hand in my fortune that first day of meditation, but I really enjoyed being in the Quiet Room and being led into the silence by Mandy, so much so that I kept going back and have ended up working with and calling Mandy a really great friend as well as a colleague. God does work in mysterious ways!
I am trawling back through the memory banks to find times when I have felt close to a spiritual being. I distinctly remember being about 8 years old and in the Basilica of Sacre Coeur in France – the peace, beauty and ambience made me cry. Is that God? I also remember being in a tiny Greek Orthodox church on the edge of a cliff, and feeling the same as I did in the Basilica. Equally, I have been blown away by the beauty of a mosque in Northern Cyprus. I had an amazing discussion with an Incan leader in Peru about Mama Pacha (Mother Nature) and similarly a Sikh in India. A very recent experience, closer to home, was last Friday being invited to Iftar at the mosque. I know very little about the Muslim faith but was very moved by the Imam’s melodic voice reciting prayer and the general warmth and hospitality that was extended to us as visitors will stay with me for a long time. What is always a source of fascination is how strong belief can be for people, to feel so deeply for something that is unseen and to care so much is pretty mind blowing.
I am in the most amazing position of working with people of various religions/religious beliefs and regularly find myself asking what might be perceived as quite intrusive questions about their beliefs, and I am learning all the time. It seems to me that at the heart of all is love, belonging and kindness, and that’s pretty cool by anyone’s standards.
So, if I was pushed, I would say I am spiritual, I feel close to whatever it/he/she is in nature. I have been so lucky in my life and have travelled to some amazing countries, catching a first glimpse of Machu Piccu at sunrise, a leatherback turtle laying her eggs in Mexico, looking up and feeling like I could touch the stars in Kilimanjaro - all of these images brought me to tears and will stay with me forever. You don’t need to go so far to be touched by mother nature I think just being aware of your surroundings and stopping to notice, switch on your senses if you are able, breathe, smell, touch and look can be enough, perhaps go for a walk when there is a full moon, open your window to listen to the birdsong, inhale the flowers and let the sand sift through your fingers. The ultimate of spiritual moments was for me giving birth to my two children, yes it was painful, yes it was scary but wow to bring another being into this world, your body doing what it does without you being in control must surely be the closest you can come to a spiritual moment. There were plenty of tears both of those times too!
I guess that in essence I shall remain being faith curious and shall enjoy sitting on this ever growing fence, try to keep learning and be open minded, but also to surround myself with people that can teach and try to remember to stop and stand and be grateful.
More importantly though, I've realised that I am actually fine with not having one set belief, I’ll continue to learn about different religions without judgement. So, if I appear a bit confused when asked “Colette, what faith are you?”, you now know why! 😊