Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Dr Maureen Sier, director of Interfaith Scotland.
Scottish interfaith week begins on Sunday. It is a festival when communities come together to celebrate Scotland’s rich spiritual story. Every year, Interfaith Scotland chooses a theme for the week, and this year’s theme of storytelling was chosen because it is Scotland’s year of stories.
The power of storytelling, for humanity, goes back to the beginning of time and transcends many boundaries. In addition to sharing stories as a way to connect with each other, our doing so can facilitate the healing process for ourselves and those we share our stories with. I have personally found the stories from my own faith tradition as a Baha’i enhancing and incredibly empowering. But.
I first became aware of the power of storytelling to heal in 2014. I had just picked up a survivor of the Cambodian genocide from Glasgow airport. Arn Chorn Pond was from a family of musicians, all of whom were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Arn was kept alive and forced to play music as a young boy while people were being murdered. His story of survival is both harrowing and humbling. On that car journey from Glasgow airport, I asked Arn if music helped him heal—he was a musician. He looked at me very intently and then said something that has remained with me ever since:
“The only thing that heals me is telling my story.”
He then spoke of how, during the horrific years of the genocide, he learned to completely block his feelings in order to survive. To weep or cry or show feelings meant certain death. For Arn, the only release from pain and grief was to speak his truth, share his story and feel himself and others transformed by the power of that story.
Using storytelling as a vehicle for truth telling is captured in this wee anecdote:
“Truth, naked and cold, had been turned away from every door in the village. Her nakedness frightened the people. When Parable found her, she was huddled in a corner, shivering and hungry. Taking pity on her, Parable gathered her up and took her home. There she dressed Truth in story, warmed her and sent her out again. Clothed in story, Truth knocked again at the villagers’ doors and was readily welcomed into the people’s houses. They invited her to eat at their table and warm herself by their fire.”
What stories can you share during Scottish interfaith week 2022?
Thank you, Dr Sier.
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