麻豆约拍

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Manika Kaur, a Sikh devotional singer songwriter

Good Morning.

Growing up in Melbourne with turban wearing Sikh brothers meant we always stood out wherever we went and yet we constantly needed to educate people about our faith.

How was it possible that the world knew about Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists and yet my community seemed to be invisible? It鈥檚 somewhat laughable considering Sikh men wear turbans and have sizable beards. In fact, Sikhs were given this identity to stand out.

In 1699 during a time of Mughal oppressive rule the Tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh Ji initiated the Khalsa tradition. He expressed that his Sikhs should never cower away and must fight for equality for all, including women鈥檚 rights, and freedom of religion.

The turban became a symbol of safe harbour and peace in a time of war and The Sikhs understood that to turn away someone who needed help was to turn your back on the Guru.

Today, my two long haired, top knot sons are mistakenly identified daily. I never expected my 10 year old would be having the same challenges and conversations about his identity that I had when I was 10.

The lack of awareness is puzzling. Especially considering the enormous contribution of British Sikhs today. As a community in the UK alone, we donate 拢125 million to charity every year, spend over 65 million hours each year on voluntary activities and serve around 5,000 meals to non-Sikhs by Britain鈥檚 250 Sikh temples weekly. Throughout the pandemic the Sikh temples delivered thousands of meals daily to NHS staff and those most in need.

Benevolent Lord,

Provide us and our children with the resilience one needs to face all of life鈥檚 challenges. Help our children to discover and connect to their divine self so that they may create a kinder world.

Waheguru

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