Last night I learned about the Baha’i faith.
This wasn’t through a learning course, training event or internet search. This was through a community event organised by Building Bridges in collaboration with several other local organisations.
Last nights event brought together members of St James Episcopal Church, the Baha’i Edinburgh community, and people like myself who live in the area, and went along to find out more. It brought people from different backgrounds together to share a meal, conversation and insight into different cultural experiences. Learning through the act of making human connections, and conversation.
This event wasn’t one where I knew anyone, or had a pre-existing connection in any way – other than living locally. I didn’t ask a friend to come with me. I found it browsing eventbrite for local activities. It was 5 minutes walk from my house, and I wasn’t doing anything else that evening so I thought ‘why not?’ and signed myself up.
And you know what? I had a lovely evening sharing a delicious meal with a group of people I had only just met, found out about a culture I was unfamiliar with, learned a little more about my own cultural background (did you know that ministers have different stoles for different Christian holidays? despite being brought up in a Christian faith I didn’t), saw some fabulous local dancers, and tried Bharatanatyam (a form of Indian classical dance) for the first – and probably only – time in my life.
And I left feeling far more refreshed, positive about the world, and good about humanity than I would have spending another evening at home on the couch watching television.
Our social networks keep us mentally healthy – even something as simple as saying hello to the person serving you in a shop on a regular basis has been shown to be beneficial, and contribute to ageing healthily and living longer. Extending these connections to include other cultures can only increase cross cultural understanding and dismantle some of the barriers caused by perceived differences.
Community Organisations such as Building Bridges do just this. Bringing people together over commonalities and shared experiences. At a time when so much of what we see in the media focuses on difference with the aim of causing outrage and anger, it was refreshing to attend an event using difference as a means of community cohesion and understanding instead.
The central principles of the Baha’i faith are that there is one god who has presented themselves to humanity in different guises at different times in history in order to guide humanity as a whole to a better path, preaching love and understanding of each other, regardless of faith (or lack of it) or other characteristics. That our strength as a species lies in unity, while celebrating each persons and cultures uniqueness.
While I don’t see myself becoming a believer any time soon – having been at least agnostic if not an outright atheist since my teens – the message of love and support for fellow human beings, treating each person as you would be treated is something I can get behind.
Too often we reject new experiences out of fear. On the basis that they are unfamiliar, that we don’t know anyone, or that it just isn’t ‘my kind of thing’.
I challenge you to find a community event near you that you would not normally attend. Go along. Take a friend if you like, but talk to the people there, not just each other, and find out about them. I guarantee you will learn something from the experience, not just about others in your community, but also about yourself.
Building bridges is a relatively new charitable organisation in Edinburgh, with the aim of connecting the diverse communities in Edinburgh. Connecting the new Scots and established communities through community meals, the arts and education. They are holding regular lunchtime meetups on the first Friday of the month at Santosa Cafe on Albert Street, Leith. Look out for more events going forward.
This event was held at St James Episcopal Church on John’s Place in Leith, Edinburgh, who have opened their space to the local Baha’i community. THeir regular service is at 11am on a Sunday, but they hold other events and activities through out the week.
Food was provided by Shinwari – a Pakistan/Afghan restaurant at Lady Lawson Street in Edinburgh – the food was delicious. Please go.
Dancers came from Theiya Arts and DanceBase, who have recently started a new project teaching Asian Dance to people living with Parkinson’s Disease at Leith Community Centre.
Vibrantly Revive 