We’re all just walking each other home

I am not a religious person.

Although I did go to a Christian elementary school and sing hymns in morning assembles and before lunch, I never felt connected to the belief. Then somehow, as a teenager I very briefly identified myself as a Christian after attending a summer camp, where I was moved to the core by a priest’s personal story. I went to church after that, but within a month or two I was tired of the people. I found them hypocritical. Boys went there to meet girls, girls went there to gossip. None of them were there to understand and strengthen their faith, but they all acted like they were better than you. So I left and that was that. Perhaps because of my adolescent experience, I used to stereotype religious people. I thought they were either boring, pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental… or all of the above. Terrible assumption, I know. But probably because I was younger and dumber and was definitely the one who was boring, pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental… and possibly more.
Some years later, by chance, I worked at a cemetery for two years and almost all of my coworkers were Catholics. They have, by being themselves, changed my narrow view on religious people. They were nothing like how I remembered them to be. Instead, they were friendly, openminded, accepting, caring and really not boring at all. I am not trying to compare Christians to Catholics, I am merely trying to say that how religious a person appears to be, has nothing to do with how decent he or she actually is.

At some point I started reading about Buddhism, and I don’t agree with everything that’s in there either, especially not the pessimistic aspects of it. Yet, I found it closer to how I see the world. So I take what I need, treating it much more like a philosophy that I can relate to than actual rules to follow.
But I am not a scholar or a preacher. I am not here to copy and paste someone else’s research or to talk about which religion is real and which isn’t. I am here to share my views on how we connect to others in this life, on this Earth, at this very confused moment.

Also by chance, one of my extended family members, who is also my collector is religious. She commissioned me to make a sterling silver band ring for her. She didn’t give me any theme or restriction. It’s an artist’s dream project. It’s a make-whatever-you-please job. But I didn’t want to just make whatever I want (for it might end up being some clown that only amuses me). I wanted to create a piece that sparks joy for the both of us. I am stubborn like that, hey, mind you, I didn’t quit my steady 9-5 to do something that I don’t care for. So I asked her a bunch of questions. On top of the general aesthetics-related ones, I asked her personal ones. Real personal ones, like what was she healing from? Who’s her hero? What inspired her…etc. And from the conversation I learnt that her faith was her light and connection with different people was mine. Then I remembered at the beginning of this whole COVID disaster she and I had a brief conversation about how we were coping. I told her that it was quite saddening how I spent so long gathering all this courage to do my thing only to have all my plans trashed. She said, “We make plans and God laughs.” For some reason that really left a mark. Believe in God or not, isn’t that true? So much for planning and so much for our vision. They all boil down to how we manage our expectations. It’s a matter of our attitude. Therefore, to that statement, I ping-ponged back “Laugh with Him.”

We don’t have to share the same faith with another human being to understand how they feel. All it takes is a little bit of observation and a little bit of compassion. We are all so different in so many superficial ways, yet we’re all so similar on a fundamental level. Like the famous spiritual guru Baba Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.”