As we approach one of the major holy festivals — Easter. We wanted to understand a little more. So, we asked Joe Walters, Senior Specialist, Lead Developer some questions about what Easter means to him and his faith.
We’re heading into one of the holiest holidays for the Christian faith, Easter, why is it so important?
For many of us the focus on Easter is more important than Christmas because it represents the idea of personal sacrifice for others, without requiring anything in return. Also, it’s about the fact that we have the ability to turn the things in our lives around that we feel are doing us damage and lets us focus on the future.
Have you taken part in Lent? If so, can you explain a little about it?
Normally each year I do take part in Lent, usually to give up something I loved as a symbol of sacrifice. I would give up alcohol and certain foods from Shrove Tuesday until our family gathers together on Good Friday. This year it’s been very different as I gave up alcohol four years ago as I felt it gave me no joy. So this year for Lent, I’ll have been giving a portion of my pay to charities instead.
How has practicing your faith changed with lockdown?
We have a strong bond with our church family and the loss of in-person prayer time has been challenging. It has strengthened in some aspects, such as setting aside certain times of the day for prayer and private reflection, this wasn’t as easy before when we were not all working from home.
Faith is so important to so many — can you tell us it means to you?
My faith is something I chose to come to and not something I grew up in. So for me it’s an important part of my life that I chose to embrace. It forms a core backbone of how I approach other people because ultimately, I know that I am far from perfect.
Faith can be so personal to talk about — what tips do you have for people who are inquisitive?
Many people find Faith hard to approach as it has all sorts of “religious” things bolted on to it and some of those things can seem odd or strange to talk about, some are quite easy to mock. Most people focus on the things that are hard to understand when they approach someone’s faith and the contradiction in certain “rules”, however, ultimately faith isn’t about the rules, because not one of us is perfect and we interpret it as best we can.
We try to be mindful of faith inclusion at NewDay, what more do you think we could do to foster an even more inclusive environment?
Just keep a healthy channel of discussion open. It’s important everyone has something to offer, whether they have a faith or not as long as people are respectful to each other.
