Fellow Columban Faith in Action Volunteer Anna and I recently joined Columban Inter-religious Dialogue Co-ordintaor Mauricio Silva to take part in an Interfaith Singing Lab. It brought together members of the Jewish and Catholic communities, and it was hosted by the Focolare Movement at St. Columban’s in Solihull.
If I had to sum up the day in one word, it would be ‘joyful’! We made a joyful sound, had joyful conversations, and shared the joys of food and community. The songs reflected on different aspects of our shared humanity, with ideas of love, peace and journeying. They also drew upon shared purposes across different religious traditions, including the idea that no one is a stranger, and that this should be reflected in our treatment of everyone we meet. Events like this challenge the assumptions that are formed in religious isolation: assumptions about what other groups think and do, and about who is deemed as ‘good’.
The joyful process of producing a harmony with your neighbour is revealing of all that you share. Sometimes one was too loud, and then the other, and then one too high or too low. We laughed through these moments and kept working on the songs until something flowed together. It was a vulnerable task – especially for people like me who aren’t particularly talented singers! Because of this vulnerability, however, we quickly built up solidarity with our neighbour, asking each other for help, laughing through the awkward bits, and sometimes hiding behind their voice. We had to trust that each other would sing wholeheartedly, so that we would not be left to reach a note by ourselves. The song was therefore both a literal culmination of our voices and a representation of the relationships we had formed, producing a more beautiful harmony as the day progressed.
Solidarity and shared experience are a powerful force for relationship and dialogue. The shared process of learning the songs played a key role in this, but so did other aspects of the day. Sharing lunch together was one key highlight. It provided space for longer conversations and strengthened the sense of unity as we ate around one table. Moments of humour also brought us together, breaking down the natural walls that are put up in an unfamiliar setting. One such moment came when we went outside into the (very) windy grounds of the Columban site, clapping to a rhythm and dancing around to keep warm! Everyone was getting involved and laughing with each other. It is these small moments of shared humanity that suddenly unite people. When you are all cold, all laughing and all dancing, there is little space for prejudice.
I am grateful to have shared this experience with such a wonderful group, and hope to carry both a sense of joy and a desire to understand what we all share, wherever I go.