Mull

Yes, I admit to this being a cheesy title but as I sit on the ferry mulling over the past few days I think how lucky I am! I was asked a few weeks ago if I would be able to go to Mull and speak to the 5th & 6th year students on one day and the 1st and 2nd years on the following one. I knew it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend time with the resident Bahá’ís and share a little bit about the Faith with the youth on the island. It was pretty hectic the day before I left, planning talks and stories, games and discussion ideas – all from Ruhi books 4 and 6. Finally, on Sunday evening, I departed for Oban. The train was freezing, though I should not complain as it is not exactly a hardship compared to the experience of those Bahá’ís who tracked for days through the rain forest or left their homes to become Knights of Bahá’u’lláh.

I stayed in Oban for the evening and braced myself for an early start … yep, I actually made it to the 7am ferry … which for those who know me is a mini miracle. I got up and

Sonya (left) with her hostess, Mary

checked that my alarm was set several times during the night, I was so scared I would wake up at 9am and miss the only boat which would get me in on time.

Mary Taylor was kind enough to be my guide, companion and together with her family my ‘hostess with the mostess’. She picked me up in Craignure and we headed straight up to Tobermory. Having spoken to Jenny Des Fountain, the head mistress, a few days earlier, I knew I was going to an open minded school. However, nothing could have prepared me for the joy of spending two days with some of the most interesting, open and friendly teenagers I have ever met.

I represented my faith along with individuals from the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Humanist traditions. We each had a group of about eight students from the 5th and 6th years with whom we spent time discussing our beliefs. I started by telling my group the stories of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. We than had a break, after which I chatted and answered questions about Bahá’í teachings, ideologies, beliefs and laws. The time, as you can imagine, went by far too quickly until it was time for lunch, a very tasty affair which consisted of many courses. A sleepy panel of representatives then spent over an hour answering questions from the whole group. The questions were often very profound and really cut to the heart of difficult issues;

• Are any of the religions better than the others?
• Why do you believe in life after death/reincarnation?
• Why did God not stop the Tsunami? When and why does God intervene in the world?
• Why has religion caused so much war?

These are just a few of the many great questions which were asked. We ran out of time which was just as well as brains were popping with ideas and we could have been there into the small hours of the night. What a great day, yet it was not over!

That evening Mary had organised a devotional in Craignure (some 40 minutes, partly by single track road from Tobermory). We were especially excited as one of my fellow panellists, a Buddhist gent by the name of Steve, had said he wanted to come.

At 8pm we arrived at the hall with excitement and trepidation … would he come or would it just be Mary's family, Rob Gillies (local Bahá’í) and myself? Sure enough 8pm came and went so we started anyway, but wait, a little knock at the door an in came Steve. We shared prayers and readings from many faith traditions but decided we would retire to Mary's house for tea and cake as it was freezing! We had a lovely fireside (literally) with soup, cake and interesting discussions after which I was more than ready for bed.

I shan’t go into as much detail on the second day as much of it was similar; however there were a few highlights. One was the questions. We had allocated about ten minutes and they ended up taking about five times longer as the students were so interested. Also, in the afternoon, while being questioned about prayer one of the young lads asked if I would say a prayer for them. Well never one to look a spiritual gift horse in the mouth I asked everyone to sit in a way which they thought was respectful and dignified (lots of shuffling and crossing of arms and legs) and I then said the prayer; “O God refresh and gladden my spirit ...”; there was silence and a palpable spiritual atmosphere. At the end of the class the teacher who had been facilitating the day said she would have liked another prayer but the students had to get buses and we had already run over time.

It was a fantastic few days. The staff, students and Bahá’ís of Mull are glorious and I hope to go back very soon!

Love,
Sonya