How to be Good?

For our Bitesize Episode* this month, we’re taking some advice from Hindu Pandita Indrani Rampersad: 

 "You know I used to teach High School in New York, and I used to teach my kids everyday – when you go home, I want you to do three good things. And tomorrow when you come, tell me what you did.”

This month, let’s do 3 good things – just 3 little things - each day, and make note of what they were at the end of that day because whatever we focus on becomes our reality, so let’s make goodness our reality for the next few weeks.

*In Bitesize Episodes, we’re going to take a few minutes to focus on a theme, topic, or piece of advice related to “How to be Good” that’s come up in our interviews. We'll talk about how we can put advice from our interviews to practical use in our daily life.

What does it mean to be a good person according to a Catholic Sister?

We ask Sister Adele Marie Altenhofen to share her opinion on being good according to Catholic teachings.

Sister Adele Marie joined the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon on Valentines Day in 1982 and now serves as the President of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Ministries Corporation (a multi-million dollar non-profit). In 2018,  because of how she’s lead this business, Sister Adele Marie was awarded the Portland Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award – this is an award designed to honor the region’s most influential business women and Sister Adele Marie was the first honoree in the 15-year history of the awards to come from a religious vocation. 

Sister Adele Marie has two master’s degrees, is an inspirational businesswoman, loves sports, traveling and china painting – among so many other things. This is such an open and gentle conversation about how well-rounded and active the day-to-day life of a Sister is.

If, after listening, you'd like to learn more about Sister Adele Marie or the Sisters of St Mary of Oregon, please visit www.ssmoministries.org. 

What does it mean to be a good person according to a Hindu Pandita*? 

We ask Dr. Pandita Indrani Rampersad, the first ever official female priest to be ordained in Trinidad, to share her opinions on being good according to Hindu teachings.  

Dr. Pandita Indrani is a Trinidadian-Indian Hindu, researcher and women’s activist who, in 2013, received Trinidad and Tobago’s national award GOLD for her Outstanding Contribution to The Development of Women’s Rights and Issues. In her professional life, Pandita Indrani has worked as a teacher in Trinidad and New York, as well as a senior journalist. She holds her PhD in Communication and Journalism and continues to work tirelessly to encourage women and girls to derive empowerment from their spiritual identity. Above all, Pandita Indrani is a Peace Advocate who propagates mutual respect as a necessity for harmonious living; and sees cultural identity as a human right

If after listening to that you’d like to learn more about Pandita Indrani, you can find her on Facebook and read more about her in this Hinduism Today article and this interview on Vimeo.

*The word Pandita means Priest, or something more close to Reverend. 

This third Bitesize Episode* focuses on Binary Thinking.

We are living in a time of deep polarity – both politically and socially. It seems our beliefs, opinions and actions are becoming more and more pushed to two far ends of a wide and diverse spectrum.  

Binary thinking – the yes/no, right/wrong, start/finish, good/bad way of thinking is something we, as humans, turn to when we’re feeling scared and want a safe space. Binary thinking makes us feel safe because it’s a simple way of looking at the world – it removes uncertainty, complexity, not-knowing and replaces it with certainty, simplicity and all-knowing – or so it feels... let's talk about why that isn't the case.

*In Bitesize Episodes, we take a few minutes to focus on a theme, topic, or piece of advice related to “How to be Good” that’s come up in our interviews. We'll talk about how we can put advice from our interviews to practical use in our daily life.

What does it mean to be a good person according to the teachings of Islam? 

This is the second-half of my interview with Imam Abdulah Polovina – if you haven’t listened to the first half yet, then head back to our previous episode and take a listen. We covered what it means for a Muslim to be a good person, talking about the 5 Pillars of Islam, how Muslims feel about forgiveness and what Imam Abdulah recommends we all do more of in our day-to day-lives.

In this second half, Imam Abdulah goes more deeply into the mechanism of faith, and shares his personal experiences of moving to America and being the first Imam to study at a Catholic University. He talks about his experiences living through (and being injured in) the Bosnian War, and we also spend time talking about the role of women in Islam.

If you’d like to learn more about Imam Abdulah Polovina, this is a great article in Portland's Street Roots magazine: Demystifying Islam, a Portland Imam opens his mosque.

What does it mean to be a good person according to the teachings of Islam? 

We ask Imam Abdulah Polovina to share his opinions on being a good Muslim. Imam Abdulah is a warm and approachable leader and in this conversation, we talk about what it means for a Muslim to be a good person, talking about the 5 Pillars of Islam, how Muslims feel about forgiveness and what Imam Abdulah recommends we all do more of in our day-to day-lives. 

Because our conversation was quite long in length, we've divided it across two episodes. This is part 1 and covers the usual questions we ask about being good – the second part, which is available as our next episode goes into more depth about the mechanism of faith, diving into the role of women in Islam and Imam Abdulah’s experience of the Bosnian war.

If you’d like to learn more about Imam Abdulah Polovina, this is a great article in Portland's Street Roots magazine: Demystifying Islam, a Portland Imam opens his mosque.

This second Bitesize Episode* focuses on Forgiveness.

This is an area that most of us have an opinion on; we all have experience of trying to forgive or seeking forgiveness – or maybe refusing to forgive. 

I’ve asked most of the Faith Leaders I’ve interviewed about this, because many religions and belief-systems have writings, rituals or practices linked to the process of forgiveness. So, let’s start by grounding ourselves in some of the different ways this has been spoken about across our interviews so far, and then spending a few minutes reflecting on how we want to show up when it comes to forgiveness in our own lives.

*In Bitesize Episodes, we’re going to take a few minutes to focus on a theme, topic, or piece of advice related to “How to be Good” that’s come up in our interviews. We'll talk about how we can put advice from our interviews to practical use in our daily life.

What does it mean to be a good person according to a Pagan?

We ask Jenny Uzzell, Education & Youth Manager for The Pagan Federation, to share her opinions on being "good" according to Pagan teachings. Jenny has been involved in Druidry for 12 years, and is carrying out her PhD research into death rites among contemporary Druids in the UK. She is also co-owner and Director of a funeral home, which is where she was for this interview. In this conversation, Jenny covers many of the misconceptions that people have about paganism, and shares the history and background of this area of spirituality.

If you’d like to learn more about Druidry, you can visit OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids) and BDO (British Druid Order).

What does it mean to be a good person within Christianity?

We ask Christian Priest, Reverend Prebendary Angela Berners-Wilson to share her opinions on being 'good' according to Christian teachings.

Reverend Angela was the first woman to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England, and is now the Rector of Quantock Towers Benefice - a collection of parishes and communities in Somerset, England. In this conversation, she talks about connecting with community during a global pandemic (she provides leadership to 6 churches and their congregations), describes the importance of the New Commandment, and shares more about her experience as the first female Priest in the Church of England. 

This first Bitesize Episode* focuses on Creating Community. 

We can choose to be in community with whoever is around us at the time – the people at our local shop, those in the road when we’re out for a walk. Whoever is around us is our community so let's connect with them.

Connecting with, supporting and caring for others is a theme that came out strongly in recent "How to be Good?" interviews. It's something that both a Jewish Rabbi in the UK, and a Buddhist Abbot in India not only agreed upon, but highlighted as one of the most important things in leading a life of goodness, in being happy, and just in feeling and doing good in this world.

*In Bitesize Episodes, we’re going to take a few minutes to focus on a theme, topic, or piece of advice related to “How to be Good” that’s come up in our interviews. We'll talk about how we can put advice from our interviews to practical use in our daily life.