My upbringing was intensely religious. All I knew was religion, and it formed the lens through which I saw the world, and other people. We all had a divine spark, which made each of us valuable beyond measure.
But one day, doubt crept in. I began asking questions. Eventually, I lost my faith and abandoned the religion of my youth. I thought to myself, there is no God. But if there is no God, then we do not have a divine spark within us. And if we do not have a divine spark, we are not valuable beyond measure – perhaps, we’re not valuable at all.
The world looked dim, and other people valueless. Why try to help people when it’s all pointless in the end?
Moses Ariama was an anomaly to me. He worked tirelessly for others – apparently, waking up at 4:30am and working seven days a week. I thought to myself, there’s a man who believes in God.
But he wasn’t religious – and yet, he saw people, especially young people, as invaluable.
What started as a temporary summer job for me became a year-long investigation. I wanted to know if you could see the divine spark in others without believing in God or practicing a religion.
Now, I have finished my investigation, and the results are in.
With Pride Lands, I have mentored many young people and worked with even more at the before/after-school and holiday programmes. Working tirelessly, each child began to morph before me. Suddenly, they were important – more than that, indispensable.
I began to see each child for who they were, individuals. And now that I’m leaving, I’m sad I won’t see them grow up into adults.
Here’s what I learned while working at Pride Lands: we decide how valuable each other are, through our actions. If we shut our eyes and cover our ears to the problems of our neighbours, we have decided their value: nil. If we work to help each other, to build a community – a village – we all regain that divine spark.
Pride Lands is a village. And whether God exists or not, it’s building the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. You need to see it to believe it. And I believe it.
Nicholas Penman
