Women & God

For future reference - I'm rarely late.

​So, the thing about my mum is she's a lay Carmelite. I said to her, 'Does this mean you're a voluntary nun?' ​It got momentarily confusing as I didn’t mean to imply that religious devotion was derived out of duress, in the  first place* After some clarification, I understood that lay Carmelites make some kind of pledge to the Order of the Carmelites - of goodness, and more practical virtues such as helping out with administrative tasks and arranging charitable events and fund raisers. Nothing wrong with that. ​Lay Carmelites do not partake in the solemn vows of profession, as do the regular nuns. I was relieved to hear this as I suspect she might struggle, having an unfortunate propensity to veer on the ligher side of life. - a predisposition which, despite my best intentions, I fear I may have inherited.
​The point is, I wanted to get some insight into religious belief - probably brought about by my chance encounter with the Jehovah Witness in the park last week. I lost my own religion years ago. I’d like to put it down to intellectual enlightenment, but that implies that I consciously thought about and wrestled with my faith, but it wasn’t like that – just too busy. ​I think religious faith can be a lot like love, despite your better judgement it can just strike you (down), like Paul* on the road to Damascus.
As I write about religion here, I have a strong sense of a connection with and a continuation of working-class women’s experience. Religion, if not a direct influence, has historically been a significant presence in the lives of many working-class women, as their autobiographies testify. When talking about religious belief - as when talking about the working-class – it is sensible to get it straight from the horse’s mouth. In other words, to get an authoritative and authentic account leave it to the people themselves. They know best.  
That’s why I talked to my mum.

(*thanks, it's been a quite a while since I read the Bible ha!)
 




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