Tag: faith

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Personal journey: Discovering happiness through faith

Graphic by Carleen Loney @shloneys

Money isn’t the key to happiness.

Questions about happiness and its connection to money have often crossed my mind. What is happiness? How do we find it? Can money truly be the ultimate source of joy? These were questions that would constantly come up while pursuing what I believed would make me happy, like attending my dream university and working in a job I loved.

Throughout my childhood, happiness was always linked to materialism. Money was the predominant love language I received as a child, and it seemed to be the only source of joy in my life. I was fortunate to travel during school holidays, received constant gifts, and seemingly had everything I asked for. Outwardly, I appeared to be a content and fulfilled girl. I was called a “princess” by family and friends. However, there was always a void in my heart: I was longing for a different type of love. 

As a teenager, I battled with depression and what made it worse was not knowing the root cause of my misery. Despite possessing what many would consider to be everything, the symptoms of depression manifested. I used to cry daily and became open about my suicidal ideation. I transitioned from being a “princess” to a “spoiled child.” What I had grown up believing would bring me happiness failed to align with my reality. I was confused, and this forced me to start asking questions. 

After talking with friends and professionals about my emotional state, I gained a better understanding of my reality. I discovered that I had grown up lacking affection and love, which as a result made me struggle with low self-esteem and anger. The void within me tormented me, and I desperately sought a way to fix it without knowing how. I realized that I couldn’t turn back time to change my past. Healing my inner child became my responsibility.

One evening in July, as I scrolled through Instagram before bed, an animation reel caught my attention. It depicted Jesus reciting the Romans 8:18 verse, which reads: “The pain that you have been feeling cannot compare to the joy that is coming.” As a Muslim at the time, I didn’t believe in Jesus, nor did I care to learn about Him. However, after reading that Bible verse, the pain in my chest, which was caused by prolonged stress, suddenly stopped. For the first time in years, I slept in peace.

In the following days, I started encountering individuals who would preach the gospel to me. All of a sudden, I felt it in my heart that everything that has ever happened in my life is a call for me to be Christian. 

Following my revelation, I gave up everything and converted. I lost my old lifestyle, family members and some friends. However, what I gained is far more valuable. I transitioned from feeling unworthy and being thirsty for love to knowing that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139). The peace, love, and happiness I’ve experienced since discovering religion is deeper and stronger than the short-term pleasure you get from spending a weekend at Disneyland or buying a designer bag. 

Sometimes, the inner self requires more than what can be obtained physically, and no amount of money can compensate for the void within. In my journey toward healing, seeking faith has played a crucial role. 

Faith has provided me with a sense of purpose, a supportive community, and a connection to something greater than myself. It has become a source of strength, helping me address the wounds of my inner child and navigate through life’s challenges. Healing and restoring our happiness is a life-long journey, and I believe that this journey is unique for each individual.

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Briefs News

Concordia’s Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre seeks community feedback

Concordia University's Sir George Williams Campus. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The organization is looking to reach out to the community and improve their services

The Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre (MFSC) gathered at the Hall building for a visioning event where students, faculty and staff were invited to come and voice their feedback regarding the centre’s operations. The MFSC is a student service offered by the University dedicated to providing a space for students to connect around a shared sense of faith and spirituality.  

“The MFSC is a space on campus for students to explore their spiritual life or beliefs and values, reflect and build connections with others,” explained Rev. Jennifer Bourque,  interim chaplain and coordinator for the centre.

Bourque explained that the service is open to all students as not merely a place for worship but as a space to connect, whether students follow a specific faith or not.

“We aim to serve all students, whether they consider themselves religious in any tradition, spiritual or secular, or they’re not sure,” she said.

The centre has two spaces, one on each campus: the Z Annex at 2090 Mackay Street downtown, and the Loyola Chapel. 

Recently, the centre has been looking to improve their services and wanted to hear about what students think spiritual and religious life should look like on campus and how the centre could best support them. On Nov. 16, students and staff members were invited to sit with facilitators to discuss topics such as accessibility, inclusivity and faith.

A recurring theme was that people who used the centre’s services found it inclusive, open, and welcoming. Robert Toto, who considers himself secular, has been using the centre’s services for a couple of years and says it has become a home away from home. 

“I have been welcomed at that space since I found out about it a couple of years ago […] and it became like a second family,” Toto said. 

During the visioning, students in the group expressed their desire to see more events hosted by the centre to meet people from various faiths and beliefs and have discussions around spirituality. They also wish to have more prayer and meditation spaces — other than the Z Annex and a room on the 7th floor of the Hall building — that would make religious practices more accessible on both campuses. 

You can read more about the MFSC here.

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Opinions

Can I believe in science and magic?

A little faith in magic, maybe spirituality, is a great way to connect with yourself, and explore the mysteries of this universe.

Are science and faith at odds?

Some would say that science and faith are polar opposites, others say that science is a form of faith.

This idea stumped me. Is magic (anything in the realm of mystical, religious, or faith-based that we can’t verify with evidence) at odds with what we know about the natural world (scientific discovery)? While magic and faith share characteristics, they’re not quite the same.

Faith is an ingredient in magic. Faith is also an ingredient in science. 

Magic and science, in these terms, are not directly connected, but share a relationship through continuity. Faith touches both magic and science, which got me thinking, do they share any other traits in common?

Let’s examine.

Curiosity of the unknown has driven many great minds to the craft of theorizing, experimenting, and documenting. This is, loosely, the world of science. The scientific method, in all its practicality, is a honed ritual.

Curiosities that can’t be captured and examined in our experiments, but persist in theory, have found their place in spiritual and religious methods, namely, the documenting and ritualizing of magic moments and experiences.

Evidence is the basis of all scientific purpose and discovery. Experiments must be unbiased and uninfluenced, and scientists go through great pains to accomplish this task. Scientists look for empirical evidence, that is, whatever they can observe with their five senses, to answer questions and confirm theories. Within the scientific world, there are some who rely on logic alone, skeptical of anything perceived through the senses. The principle is, if you can verify that 1 + 1 = 2 with basic deductive reasoning, not firsthand experience, then maybe you can verify other things without having to experience them too.

Meanwhile, in magic, evidence is understood in anecdote and intuition, rather than objective data collection. You cannot control, predict, or measure the setting wherein someone encounters God, or feels déjà-vu. This can lead to skepticism. But if we choose to limit ourselves only to that which we can verify with our senses, or with our logic, we’re left wholly unequipped to examine the mysteries that reach outside of the short net we cast into the abyss.

There are so many animals that enjoy a completely different experience of living in the world that we share, just because they have different senses to experience the world, and different brains that process those experiences. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to experience echolocation like bats, or send and receive empathic social messages like sperm whales.

When I think about it, our experiences are gathered from our five measly senses, and processed by our wee little three-pound brain —  that’s pittens! 

Take this example. I have seen swear-on-my-life, unexplainable, consistent magic with my own eyes. Truly. I experience it on a near-daily basis. It all comes from a book I own, “The Tao of Leadership,” which interprets the spiritual teachings of Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, and marries them with modern psychology, thanks to the author, John Heider.

The 95-page book compiles the philosophies of the eastern religion Taoism that’s centered on the principle that Tao is a way of being. When you move in tandem with this principle, you move in harmony and are at one with the universe. “The Tao of Leadership” takes the principles of Tao and applies them to practical situations that a leader faces in group dynamics, the self, and the world at large.

When I look to the book for direction, I take it and ask a question that is plaguing me, like one does  when reading tarot cards. I sit with the question for a moment. In the mindfulness practice, they call this a mindful pause. I open the book, and advice pours out. The words on the page are like the advice of a wise grandmother or a consoling friend — the kind of direction I’m in need of at that moment. It has yet to confuse or disappoint me.

Discovering this book has deepened my faith, curiosity, and calmed my skepticism of anything that doesn’t produce concrete evidence. 

A point of reflection: have you ever had an experience, thought or feeling that deepened your appreciation for anecdotal evidence, and the experiences of other people, or even the experiences of animals, who perceive the world through different senses and different brains? Was this catalyst something you can explain or study through science?

It’s delicious to stoke a boundless curiosity usually reserved for children, and it’s been good for my health. The box has four walls. On the other side of the wall, there’s conversations with books, conversations with plants and animals, who knows what else?

Sharing this western culture that celebrates evidence, it’s likely that you, like me, believe in science. But my question to you is, do you believe in magic?

 

Feature graphic by Taylor Reddam

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Student Life

A non-believer embraces faith

Photo by Kenneth Gibson

Secular students find value in wisdom and practices of faith traditions

An atheist looking for guidance among religious people may seem ironic at first. Some students that frequent Concordia’s Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre (MFSC), like Nicolas Chevalier, identify as non-believers but still derive benefits from being involved.

Chevalier admits that he had some reservations about Christianity and other religions, but was still curious about them. “At the same time, faith can be something that brings people together, and that is something that is clearly lacking in our society,” he said.

Chevalier met Ashely Crouch, the interfaith facilitator at the MFSC, through a mutual friend. Chevalier often attends events put on by Sustainable Concordia, and since it shares the same building as the MFSC, he ended up participating in a few events there as well. Chevalier considers himself an atheist, yet his involvement with environmental activism complicates that perspective. “With my environmental background, I do believe everything is connected. We’re not just here in a cold existence to reap everything from the earth,” he said.

In all his intersectional organizing and activism efforts, Chevalier tries not to take a “finger pointing” perspective. He said he is drawn to similarities in how interfaith communities create respectful dialogue, even when they disagree.

Chevalier’s family is Christian, but they rarely went to church during his childhood. So while he didn’t know much about religion growing up, Chevalier was never anti-religious, and was always respectful of people’s faith.

A turning point came when his mother passed away from lung cancer about four years ago. It so happened that his family’s neighbour was a priest. “He would come in and he would talk about nothing and everything, in a way that was very comforting. That was definitely something that helped change my view about people who have faith,” Chevalier said.

The role of the campus chaplain at Concordia has been constantly evolving to reflect the changing religious beliefs of the student body, said Ellie Hummel, the chaplain and coordinator at the MFSC.

The chapel at Loyola College became an ecumenical place of worship when Loyola joined with Sir George William College to form Concordia in 1974. The chaplaincy gradually grew to embrace the increasing number of non-Christian students coming to Concordia, becoming multi-faith.

In the last 19 years, since Hummel has been at Concordia, spiritual yet non-religious people have also been welcomed. “We are adjusting our language more,” Hummel said. “We realized there are people who name themselves as secular and humanist, and we want them to know they are included.”

“People could have their typical view of ‘oh, it’s a preacher person just coming here to push their religion’ and that’s not at all what I get from either Ellie or Ashely,” Chevalier said. “They invite people in to come as they are, whether they have faith or not.”

Chevalier thinks the main issue with organized religion is that concentrating power in an institution eventually leads to the people running it being corrupted by that power.

The MFSC’s approach to cultivating a faith-based community is more informal and non-hierarchical. Crouch became the interfaith facilitator at the MFSC a little over a year ago. She said that a lot of new students, when they come to the MFSC for the first time, ask about how they can join. “You don’t have to join, you just belong, you’re just here,” Crouch said. “It’s very intentionally kept that way.

Ultimately, compared to what capitalism and consumer culture offer in terms of living a fulfilled life, Chevalier said he sees a lot of good things coming out of the multifaith chaplaincy. However, he doesn’t necessarily see his participation as political.

“In the traditional politics type of sense, I don’t see it like that, I just see it as people sharing ideas” Chevalier said. “[But] some of my friends who are stronghold atheists would go ‘why are you even talking with these people?’”

While the MFSC offers varied programing, from drumming circles to meditation groups, Hummel said the most important thing they offer is simply the space—a place where people can just drop in and talk to religious people.

“[It] helps you […] realize that you can live with people who don’t necessarily agree and to have a respect around those sorts of things,” Crouch said. “Everybody can grow from that.”

Feature image by Kenneth Gibson

Categories
Student Life

My religion: My Muslim faith

Warraich and his siblings as children. From left to right, Ahmed, Qasim, Fatima and Mohammed.

One Concordian’s honest portrait of what his faith means to him

As a Canadian-born Muslim, I’ve learned to live and grow in this country during one of the most trying times for Muslims around the world. Faith seriously entered my life when I was eight years old. My father had just been diagnosed with lymphoma and leukaemia, and his situation was quite dire.

We had been a relatively religious family up until this point, going to the mosque most Fridays and spending time within the Muslim community. However, my father’s sickness deepened our faith. We heavily relied on God and on our knowledge of the Islamic faith to get through that hard time.

Warraich’s father and brother

At the worst point of his sickness, it seemed not much more could be done, so my father planned a visit to the holy city of Mecca. There, he performed the Islamic hajj pilgrimage—a must for any Muslim before they die. After his pilgrimage, my father had a miraculous recovery, which further solidified his faith, and our family’s faith.

Religion is all around us. For thousands of years, it has been a driving force behind civilizations and understanding societies and the people who fill this planet. Sadly, it has also been the cause of many acts of war, genocide and persecution—whether it is a group of people using religion as a front to further their own political motives and agendas, or a group being persecuted for following a particular religion.

It seems to me that, these days, people increasingly dislike the concept of religion. Many cite it as outdated and the cause of the barbaric acts of violence we have all seen throughout the world.

I have found it difficult to refute these ideas in discussions with nonreligious or atheist people. Many who don’t practice any religion know very little about religion. As such, I believe when people see images and videos of people carrying out acts of violence in the name of religion, they paint a picture of that religion based solely on the brutality—ignoring all the positive sides of religion.

Islam is based on five pillars all Muslims should adhere to. The first pillar is “ shahada,” a declaration that there is only one God, and the Prophet Muhammad is the last of his messengers.  The second pillar is “salat,” a prayer Muslims perform five times a day. The third pillar is “zakat,” which means giving charity to the poor and to those in need. The fourth pillar is “sawm,” which is the act of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. The final pillar is “hajj,” the pilgrimage to Mecca.

These pillars represent the basis on which Islam was created. Growing up, my parents really emphasized the importance of kindness and generosity.

“This should be the focus of your time here on earth,” they’d say.  Islam’s pillars reinforce kindness. This is why faith plays such a big part in my life. Many people say: “What if it’s all fake? And you’ve lived your life trying to be good all for nothing?” Yet, that is the point of Islam and many other religions in the first place—to sacrifice, and live your life for others, having faith that this is your purpose.

Warraich’s father (top left), with his siblings and other relatives

For me, regardless of whether it’s all fake or not, religion has taught me these key principles. To be kind, generous, empathetic, honest and to help people, regardless of their faith. Living with these ideals and trying to uphold them regularly is, in my opinion, a good way to live your life—this is regardless of what you feel happens after we die. This is why I find religion so powerful.

On Jan. 29, in la grande mosquée de Québec in Quebec city, six men, four of whom were fathers to young children, were massacred as they stood for evening prayer. The term I want to introduce here is “shahid.” This word is used to denote a martyr, a person who has died fulfilling a religious commandment.

Though people will say these men were not fighting for Islam in the typical way we think of today, these men are the brightest and most valued of Muslims—innocent, humble and hardworking fathers who were taken from this world and from their children too early. We must not forget what happened almost 10 days ago, we must not forget the names of these men, and we must always remember what they and their families were forced to go through in order to shed light on the problems our society faces. May they find their way into eternal paradise and may their families be lessened of the burden they now face.

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