Speaker and voice actor shares “profound religious experience” with local parish
When Robyn Moore AO was nine years old, she had a religious experience so profound it changed the course of her life.
Baptised Presbyterian, she grew up on sheep and cattle stations in Tasmania, Victoria and outback Queensland.
“My church was big sky country, and I was given a lovely, simple farm faith from Mum and Dad,” the now-renowned speaker, who also voiced the iconic character of Blinky Bill, explained.
“For me, God was everywhere and He was always watching over me.”
When Robyn was seven years old, her family moved home to Tasmania and she attended Sorell Area School.
“I was blessed to meet Mr Nichols, a minister who taught us about religion,” she explained.
“He used to play the piano-accordion and teach little songs, tell us bible stories and have us learn passages from the Gospel.”
Robyn said this was a crucial period in her life, as after many blissfully happy, formative years, her parents divorced and her father moved to Victoria.
“I think I was the first child in the entire school to have divorced parents,” she said.
“When my family broke, so did my heart and I was bereft.”
It was at this time, overwhelmed by anger towards her mother, that Robyn had her first profound religious experience.
“I had a very vivid dream where I was on a long train journey,” she said.
“I had a draw-string bag on my lap and when I opened it up I saw there were lots of coins inside. I took each coin out one by one, until I came to the last coin. It had Christ’s face on it and started to pulse with a golden light, becoming so bright I couldn’t keep my eyes open.”
Robyn said it felt as if her heart was made of plasticine and Christ’s face was stamped into it.
“Love consumed me,” she said.
“The next day I felt euphoric and for a long time afterwards, euphoria replaced my anger. Just recalling this takes me back to that moment. The words which best describe this defining moment are: ‘I have called you by your name and you are mine’.”
After several more religious experiences, Robyn converted to Catholicism.
“I do not have an intellectual understanding of my faith, but an experiential understanding,” she said.
“This means that I don’t spend time talking about my faith; I am being my faith. To know that I was loved by God, even before I was conceived is such a comfort as I move through this precious life bumping into my humanity with joys, upsets, good deeds, failures, losses, gratitude, challenges, laughter (and hopefully) humility, faith and wisdom.”
Robyn, who was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia last year for her significant service to charitable organisations and to the performing arts, shared her story with the parishioners of Bellerive-Lindisfarne Parish at Corpus Christi Church.
“The theme was ‘Wake up to love, life and laughter’ because I am in love with the ‘Power of the Word’,” she said.
“This presentation was a personal gift to my fellow parishioners, and I chose to share very intimate stories to give them maximum value in their own lives. I am in the quickening of my life, so I want to leave a legacy where my stories live in others. I wanted the guests to have a highly entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking experience – so everyone would laugh, cry, think, be challenged and come away feeling totally enlivened.”
Due to requests, Robyn is presenting “Wake up to love, life and laughter” for a second time (with many new stories) on Friday 5 November, 7-9pm at Corpus Christi School Hall. Numbers are strictly limited, so please arrive early to secure your seat.