The final of this week’s pause for thought on BBC Radio 2 covers the recent world religion’s parliament the Parliament brings together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious respect and understanding.

Today’s broadcast can be heard by clicking on the play button below:

Transcript from today’s PfT (agreed with  the producer):

Make a World of Difference
I suppose it’s understandable, when you catch the news headlines, how some people believe that the world’s troubles seem to be caused by the world’s religions and that the world would be a far better place without religion.

Of course, that would be to ignore the fact that so often these problems and conflicts arise as the result of a crude misrepresentation by minority groups of the message at the heart of the various world religions, and would ignore the vast amount of good work done to relieve poverty and suffering in our world by people of all faiths.

And what better way of acknowledging and displaying that cooperation is there than at the recent conference in Melbourne, Australia held by the Parliament of the World’s Religions?

First held in Chicago in 1893, the Parliament brings together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious respect and understanding.  In December, over 5,000 people from more than 200 faiths and from 80 countries attended the event to explore the theme Make a World of Difference: Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth.  It focussed on such global problems as poverty, ignorance, and environmental concerns.

There’s a Sikh saying: “In the whole wide world that I see around, Nothing can be gained without good actions.”  It’s a sentiment that does us well whether we’re members of a faith or of none.  Because only together, through our patient conversations, mutual understanding and trust can we strive to create a just and fairer world, sustainable for all.

The forth of this week’s pause for thought on BBC Radio 2 covers Communities working towards 2012 Olympics in London.
Today’s broadcast can be heard by clicking on the play button below:

Or, click here to download.

Transcript from today’s PfT (agreed with  the producer):

Communities working towards London 2012

In the middle of December, I attended an event at the Olympics organisation centre in Canary Wharf.  It was inspiring to see so many people from different communities getting involved in the various projects for 2012.  In fact, Lord Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the organising committee, spoke about how crucial London’s emphasis on communities had been to helping it win the bid to host the Games.

We were then treated to a video presentation outlining the progress made to date.  There were, of course, the now classic pictures of the bid team in Singapore with their hands covering their faces in heavy anticipation, awaiting the verdict of who would host the games in 2012, followed by the wonderful scenes of celebration as the team embraced one another.  I must admit, I felt a warm sense of pride that a country that my parents made home back in 1958 has this opportunity to shine globally.

The video went on to outline some of the long-term community projects which are coming out of the planning for the Games.  At the reception afterwards, I met one of the Games organisers who has developed a national campaign to help some of the most disadvantaged to improve their job prospects.  The scheme’s called Personal Best and uses the excitement of the 2012 Games to promote training for an accredited volunteering qualification, while also offering participants support into further volunteering, training or work.

So often, it’s not what you initially take out of something but about what you put in.  And that’s no truer said than when you’re talking about voluntary work.  There may not be a personal financial gain, but for many across the country, voluntary work – be it for a charity, a club, or a religious organisation – can be a wonderfully satisfying and worthwhile use of spare time.

And the Olympic’s Personal Best scheme is a great example of the Games giving people not just a fabulous fortnight of sporting and cultural entertainment, but the long-term opportunity of job prospects, helping communities to create a legacy which will live long – well beyond the time the last spectator has left the Olympic stadium.

The third of this week’s pause for thought on BBC Radio 2 covers just how one day’s wages can be all it takes!
Today’s broadcast can be heard by clicking on the play button below:

Transcript from today’s PfT (agreed with  the producer):

Just one day’s wages can be all it takes!
We get up, we go to work, we go home, we crash out and we go to bed again.  Somewhere in there we also eat!  It’s a daily grind which tends to distract us from so much as we concentrate on getting by, particularly in these dark days of winter.  Helping a neighbour de-ice their car’s windscreen can seem a big deal, let alone helping to tackle world issues such as poverty, violence and exploitation that too often face us in the news.

Think of it:

• 25,000 children under the age of 5 die each day due to poverty-related causes.
• Nearly 900 million people in the world do not have access to clean water.
• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
• Many in our world spend hours walking many, many miles a day – often barefoot – to collect water, food or to get to their nearest school.

I remember once meeting a Peace Corp volunteer in the United States who told me about her visit to a remote village in Kenya and how the people there looked at her shoes in wonder.

The scale of these and many more issues can simply seem insurmountable to us.

Yet charity, as they say, begins at home.  Recently, I came across an international movement which encourages people to donate a day’s wage to help end global poverty.  That’s about nought point four percent of an annual salary.  It’s a simple idea.  Yet it could make such a difference to the lives of so many in this world.

There’s a Sikh saying: “The earth is a garden, The Lord its gardener, Cherishing all, none neglected.”

So next time you’re in the car heading to or from work with the weight of the world on your shoulders, listening to the news on the radio and feeling powerless to help, why not set that single day’s pay aside?  Strangely enough, it may be just the thing you need to lighten the load and give a fresh perspective on the daily grind.

My Original article is here:

Our daily grind tends to take us away from helping to free others. Freedom from poverty, slavery and exploitation tends to unfortunately drop in priority as we are so tied-up with surviving and investing in personal or associated family futures.

One of the wonders of humankind is the potential to be innovative. Recently, I came across One Day’s Wages. ODW is an international movement dedicated to ending extreme global poverty. The figures quoted on their website are shocking and staggering:

• 25,000 children under the age of 5 die each day due to poverty-related causes.
• Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
• Nearly 900 million people do not have access to clean water.
• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

These are all challenges for us. When we sleep at night we hope for a good nights rest. However, we forget about those that have to walk miles to go to school, many in bare feet. I remember meeting a Peace Corp volunteer in the US who hold me about her visit to a remote village in Kenya. She spoke about how people looked at her shoes in wonder.

ODW suggest that a one day salary contribution is equivalent to about 0.4% of your annual salary.
They are also setting-up partnerships with other organisations, for example: Not for Sale.
The latter focus on deploying innovative solutions to re-abolish slavery in their own backyards and across the globe.

The Interview with David Batstone of Not For Sale below is inspiring and exposes the evil of slavery that is happening in the 21st Century!!!?
It is great that people are now starting these organisations. A start to harmonisation and fairness in terms of the distribution of wealth, respect for human rights and stopping abuse of people.

Together we can overcome.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The second of this week’s pause for thought on BBC Radio 2 covers Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s birthday.
Today’s broadcast can be heard by clicking on the play button below:

Transcript from today’s PfT (agreed with  the producer):

Guru Gobind Singh Birthday
When you got dressed today, how aware were you of what you were saying about yourself?
Though we may not think it, what we wear indicates so much about ourselves.  Our likes, our associations, our community, our attitudes, our beliefs.   Sometimes it’s explicit: remember the Parker coats of the Mods?  Or what about the skinny jeans, black lipstick, and wristbands of today’s Emo culture.
Hair is crucial too.  Punks often had mohawks as sharp as a blade and then there’s the ease of Rastafarian dreadlocks.  Skinheads went to the opposite extreme.
Even the pinstripe suit of a City gent says much about who they are.

Of course, many religious faiths can be identified by their clothes or how they wear their hair.  But this isn’t done just to be part of a crowd.  It is often very symbolic.

Today Sikhs celebrate the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.  Born in India in 1666, he was the tenth and last of the human-form Gurus of Sikhism.
He fought in a number of battles against the Mogul empire, losing his father, mother and four children in the fight for freedom.

Later, Guru Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa, dispelling the caste system that created artificial barriers between people and established the 5 Ks of the Sikh faith; 5 means of identifying and representing the ideals of Sikhism:

• Kesh: unshorn hair, representing the natural appearance of God-given sainthood.
• Kanga: a comb to clean the hair.
• Kachha: an undergarment to indicate virtuous character.
• Kara – an Iron bracelet on the wrist: a symbol of dedication to the Divine Bridegroom and that God is limitless.
• And Kirpan: a sword symbolising dignity, power and unconquerable spirit.

Our clothes or hair may not say as much about us as the 5 Ks of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.  But none of us fail to send out a signal, each time we dress, about who we believe we are.

Of course, that’s nothing unless we are honest with ourselves and with those around us.  What’s most important is where our heart is.  As Guru Gobind Singh himself once said: “Peace and happiness shall fill your mind deep within, if you act according to truth and self discipline.”

This week I’m on Pause for Thought, a BBC Radio 2 show that selects guests presenters for short inspirational messages. Each day I’ll post up the transcript for the show together with the audio for both listen again opportunities and as a personal archive.
Today’s broadcast can be heard by clicking on the play button below:

Transcript from today’s PfT: ( Agreed with the Producer).

What inspires you?  It was a question I posed for a bit of fun to my friends on Facebook the other day.

I was expecting them to reply with answers such as a beautiful landscape, a wonderful piece of music, children, or the do-or-die commitment of a sporting hero.

But the first response I received back was much deeper.  It simply said: ‘Compassion’.  In other words, a simple human act or emotion towards another in pain or trouble.

It sounds so simple doesn’t it?  But then again, in our heart-of-hearts, we know that we too often fail to show self-less compassion when we find colleagues, neighbours, or strangers in need?  Too often we walk-on by.  No wonder my friend found true acts of compassion an inspiration.

Of course the cynic might argue that there is no such thing as selfless compassion.

“Hold on”, I hear you cry!  “I give to charity when I see or hear about a worthy cause.”  But our donation, the cynic would say, gives us a feel good factor.  We shouldn’t kid ourselves that there isn’t a positive benefit to our giving.

“But what about my children?  I bring them up and don’t think twice about caring for them or protecting them.  I give selflessly.”  But our reward for the care and concern we show our children comes, the cynic would argue, with the love that our children show to us in return.

Even a birthday present isn’t apparently such an innocent gift because we give expecting one in return.

All the great faiths refer to the importance of showing compassion to others.  Christians have the story of the Good Samaritan and the Dalai Lama once encouraged his followers with the words: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.  If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”  So maybe, while true acts of compassion are rarer than we think, that’s not what’s important.

In the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Patshah is quoted as saying: “Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot and truth the twist.  This is the sacred thread of the soul.”