Unity in Discovery

Opening our hearts and minds to discovery is one of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves and those around us. Interfaith Officer Shirley Murphy reports.

Inter Faith Week aims to strengthen good relations, increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities and increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs. Central to these aims is celebrating and building on the contribution which members of different faith and non-faith communities make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society.

Events and activities are planned that draw attention to the invaluable work done by community-based faith groups and organisations and promote understanding and tolerance between people with religious and non-religious beliefs.

One such event was the Interfaith Council for Wales event entitled A Celebration of Faiths and Unity, held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Cardiff.

Speakers were asked to speak about a great woman from their religion. The Hindu speaker spoke about Goddess Andal also called as Godadevi, who is an important female figure in South India. She is often remembered for her pure love and devotion and for her poetry, in which she strikes autobiographical notes about her love for her Lord.

The Jewish speaker spoke about Esther, a young Jewish woman living in the Persian diaspora who finds favour with the king, becomes queen and risks her life to save the Jewish people from destruction when the court official Haman persuades the king to authorise a pogrom against all the Jews of the empire.

The Sikh speaker spoke about Bibi Nanaki, the elder sister of Guru Nanak, the founder and first Guru of Sikhism.

Finally, the Muslim speaker spoke about Naseebah bint Ka'ab, a female warrior who fought to save the Islamic prophet Muhammad in battle. was one of the first women to convert to Islam and was a disciple of the Prophet Muhammad.

When we are curious about the lives of others, we carve out space for everyone to be themselves and meet each other where we are, as we are. Learning about others opens us up to different ways of being; different cultures, beliefs, perspectives, ways of celebrating the cycle of life, and of course – delicious food!

Through discovery we can challenge prejudice and misunderstanding, both inside of us and in the world around us. We do not need to understand each other in order to love and respect each other. But nurturing curiosity is a powerful step towards building bridges between communities.