The Space Between Two Poles

This post is a bit heavy, but I hope it may open up conversations.

I recently had two brushes with faith, over a period of two days. The first involved a biblical walk and the second involved a séance.

First, I met a holy man in a café, holy in the traditional Irish Catholic sense that I grew up with. The holy man had been to the Holy Land (Israel) and was eager to tell us that he had walked in the steps of Jesus.

He had no doubt that he had walked the same paths as Jesus. And he left no room for the rest of us to express doubt either.

Brushes With Faith

The second encounter was on a podcast called Witch, produced by BBC Radio Four. It featured a séance run by a trans witch who wanted to help people communicate with their queer ancestors.

The reporter respected the witch's beliefs and didn't question what underpinned them, but I suspect if she had, there would have been little room for doubt either.

Photo Description: This is a picture of Jesus wearing a witch's hat.

I felt the pull of both these encounters, as though they were magnetic poles. One pulled me towards the faith of my childhood. The other pole pulled me towards a faith that's ancient but with very modern twists, one that's new and exotic to me, inclusive but also glamorous.

The Third Pole

I am still not sure which pole has the greater pull. There is a danger that if I don't decide, I will ricochet between the two poles, buffeted about by the beliefs of others. But what if there's a third pole, one which doesn't pull.

Rather, it'll steer me gently away. Away from dogma. Away from the need to be right. And towards a place where there is room to express doubt, and room for everybody's words. If such a pole exists, I will hove towards it.