Sunday, August 05, 2012

Sikhism


 



In light of the mass killing at a Sikh temple earlier today (08/05/2012), I am posting this article with hope that it may provide readers with basic information about a religion which is not well known in the United States. With more than twenty-seven million adherents worldwide, Sikhism is the fifth largest religious group. Recent estimates place the U.S. population of Sikhs at somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000, with approximately 20% of the total living in California.  (Population figures are difficult to obtain because the U.S. census does not disaggregate Sikhs as a separate religious or ethnic group.)

Sikhism is a relative newcomer to world religious practice, having been founded by Guru Nanak Dev in the latter part of the fifteenth century.  Born into a Hindu family in 1469, Guru Nanak early exhibited a deep interest in and gift for the spiritual life.  As a young man tending his family’s herd of cattle, he engaged both Hindu and Muslim holy men of the area in deep spiritual discussion.  After his marriage at the age of 16 and the birth of his two sons, he was employed as an accountant but spent many hours of the evenings and early mornings in meditation and hymn singing.  In the latter he was accompanied by a childhood Muslim friend who played the rahab, a stringed instrument.

Friday, August 03, 2012

Speaking Truth to Power

This recollection dates from June 2003.  I'm posting it now in solidarity with all the Sisters who will be gathering next week in St. Lewis to discern a path forward for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.  May they be wise and strong in continuing their witness of speaking truth to power.


The good news came in an email message, as so much news does these days.  My friend Willie would not be going to prison.  It’s not that she was not prepared to do so.  In fact, she and her co-defendants had already refused one plea bargain that could have let them off with just a fine, insisting instead on a trial that could well result in jail time of up to a year for each of them.  As she explained to us a few days before her court appearance, accepting a fine or community service would involve admitting that what they had done was wrong, and not one of them believed that.  They were determined to be imprisoned for their witness to truth in the face of military might rather than to deny their beliefs.

“Willie” is Sr. William Julie Hurley, a sixty-something Sister of Notre Dame who has devoted her life to work with the poor and marginalized of society.  Whether it is teaching in southern Africa, serving in prison ministry, or coordinating hospice support for people living with AIDS, she brings a large measure of compassion, caring, and impish good humor to her work.  Today she teaches seniors at Lowell Catholic High, a poor school trying to provide quality education for inner-city youth.