Sharing our Stories This page will mirror the front cover design © SIFRE, contributoRS and Postprint, 2014 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data All rightS reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, oR transmitted, in any form oR by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording oR otherwise,wihout the prioR written permission of the Publishers. Printed in England by POSTPRINT Snetterton Business Park, Snetterton, Norfolk NR16 2JZ II Compiled and edited by Cynthia and David Capey foR Suffolk inter-Faith Resource The Inter-Faith Centre The West Building University Campus Suffolk Waterfront Building Neptune Quay Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 1QJ Email: offi[email protected] Website: www.sifre.org.uk Suffolk Inter-Faith Resource is a Charitable Company Company Number: 2992865 Registered Charity: 1042612 Registered in England and Wales © SIFRE 2014 III “The Walking Madonna” A sculpture by Elizabeth Frink. It is positioned outside Salisbury Cathedral. MaRy, aS an oldeR woman, iS Shown StRiding puRpoSe-fully away fRom the cathedRal. It iS a thought-pRovoking Symbol aS it challengeS uS to Set out fRom our comfort zones and embark on journeyS with an open heart and mind, not knowing whom we might meet along the way. IV Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................................... 1 The importance of inter-faith encounters ......................................................... 3 Suffolk 2014: A Faith Profile ........................................................................................ 5 Abdullah Mawas: A perspective on Syria ............................................................ 7 Andrew Sterling: Uncovering Faith ........................................................................ 9 Aruna Mistry: A Hindu by birth .............................................................................. 18 Atul Shah: A Jain by culture ...................................................................................... 20 Barbara Richardson-Todd: Losing God and finding Friends .............. 22 Barry Spivack: Exploring my Jewish Heritage ............................................... 25 Betty Wells: Who is not my neighbour? ............................................................. 29 Beverley Levy: The Jewish way of life ................................................................. 33 BhupindaR Sually: My particulaR Sikh path .................................................... 35 Charles Croydon: Living aS an Anglican ........................................................... 36 Chinmayi Nath: Inspired by my Hindu background ................................ 42 Dali Jabbar: A Parsee on the RailwayS ................................................................ 47 Dawn Crisp: A Baptist in rural Suffolk ............................................................... 49 Denis Johnston: Finding my way to Humanism ......................................... 51 Derek Mason: It all remains a mystery .............................................................. 61 Elizabeth Sugarman: Being Jewish in Suffolk ................................................ 62 Frank Bright: Growing up under German Occupation ........................... 65 Graham Locking: An interview with a Racing Chaplain ......................... 90 Gudrun Warren: My German Daddy .................................................................. 96 Gurmeet Singh Sually: Perspective of a young Sikh .................................. 99 Heather Bruce: Why I joined the Quakers .................................................... 102 Irmild Jacyna: Refugees – 1944 ............................................................................ 104 Isabelle Wen: A member of the Buddhist Community of Interbeing .. 109 Janus va n Helvert: How come I’m a Buddhist? ......................................... 111 Jean Gittens: A chat with a Seventh Day Adventist ................................. 116 V Jim Corrigall: My Christian Faith; Arriving late ......................................... 118 Jnanamitra Emmett: On being a Transsexual and Buddhist ............. 121 Joanne Cage / Modhuri: Not knowing ............................................................ 133 John Peck: Autobiography of a retired Baptist Minister ...................... 136 Joy van Helvert: At home with Nichiren Buddhism ................................ 140 Khatereh Vahd at: Born in Iran; living in Suffolk ....................................... 143 Margaret Nelson: The problem with labels .................................................. 145 Mayuri Patel: My Hindu story .............................................................................. 149 Nayan Shah: Who am I? ........................................................................................... 151 Patric Standford: The birth of an ORatorio ................................................... 152 Prabjot Kaur: Taking Amrit, my initiation ceremony ............................ 154 Punna Athwall: The Sikh way of life; a personal perspective ............ 158 Richard Stewart: Twenty yeaRS a Quaker ....................................................... 162 Rose Norgate: A Bahá’í in Beccles ...................................................................... 164 Ruman a Zuberi: A Muslim woman in Britain ............................................. 173 Sara Ali: A cry foR Iraq ................................................................................................ 184 Saroop Kaur (1924 - 2013): A tribute to a Grandmother ...................... 185 Shirley Smith: Why I am a Christian Scientist ............................................ 187 Simarjit Kaur Sandhu: Sikhism, Love, Amrit ............................................... 192 Sue Hewlett: My journey into Humanism .................................................... 203 Sue Raychaudri: Living life aS a Buddhist ..................................................... 205 Sue Smith Jennings: The Goddess within ..................................................... 208 Tariq Effendi: My Muslim experience ............................................................. 215 Tony Gibbings: Rooted in Catholicism ........................................................... 217 Topaz Ladbrook: My journey of faith aS a young Catholic ................. 221 Umesh Patel: My passage from India .............................................................. 224 Sanjaya Martin Spettigue: A Thought foR the Day ................................... 227 Cynthia Capey: An Inter-Faith pilgrimage ................................................... 231 Back to the Beginning ................................................................................................ 238 Waiting foR the last bus home ............................................................................... 242 VI Preface n 1992, SIFRE publiShed itS fiRSt book, ‘FaithS in FocuS in IpSwich I and Suffolk’, which contained general information about the faith communitieS pReSent in the county. In 1994, it waS followed by a Second book, ‘Finding ouR Way and ShaRing ouR StoRieS’ which, by contRaSt, waS compoSed of peRSonal StoRieS wRitten by women, Reflecting on theiR liveS in the light of theiR tRaditionS. TheSe bookS were able, between them, to give an overview of religious groups aS a whole, while alSo allowing individualS to Speak foR themSelveS, thuS challenging the Simple geneRaliSationS which can lead to SteReotyping. Twenty yeaRS later it is time to return to the task. ThiS ‘Sharing ouR StoRieS’ iS a collection of moRe than 50 peRSonal accountS by individualS, both men and women, of theiR liveS and theiR beliefS. Some have lived all theiR liveS in Suffolk, Some have Settled here foR various reasons and others have come here to work oR study. HoweveR, theiR StoRieS highlight Some of the expeRienceS and challenges that face everyone in our diverse society, including issues of gendeR, diSability, Race, peRSecution and diSplacement. It alSo RevealS the StRuggleS individualS may have in maintaining theiR integrity with regard to their faith and spirituality. People are often aSked to state theiR religious affiliation and some aRe happy to be categoRiSed in thiS way aS Bahá’íS, BuddhiStS, ChriStianS, HinduS, JainS, JewS, MuSlimS, PaganS, SikhS, TaoiSts and Zoroastrians (all represented in Suffolk). There are many others who see themselves aS outside these boxes and their voices can also be heard through these stories. The pRoceSS of collecting the aRticleS waS complicated by the fact that Some of the contRibutoRS became So abSoRbed in the taSk that they found themselves writing a full life story. Others had to be cajoled to get staRted! The result is a rich mix of articles of varying lengths and StyleS fRom people of diffeRent ageS and with many diffeRent backgrounds and roles in society. 1 AlongSide thiS anthology of individual StoRieS theRe iS an evolving collection of general articles about the faith communities of Suffolk, theiR hiStoRy, beliefS and pRacticeS, contempoRaRy conceRnS, placeS of woRShip and contact detailS. ThiS iS available on-line at www.sifre.org.uk SIFRE is grateful to all those who openly or anonymously give their time to work with us on our various projects. We thank the contributors to this anthology, those who have helped with the shaping of the material and especially Margaret Nelson for her extensive proof reading. We look forward to further co-operative work