The Definition of Religion
Our class discussion on the exact definition of religion reminded me of a very deep discussion I had with one of my friends back home on the topic.
It was sometime over spring break last year, and Sam had received acceptances from 10 out of the 11 colleges that she had applied to. Her father was the headmaster and former college counselor of our high school and her mother comes from one of the wealthiest families in the state of California. One would think that they would offer their opinions on where she should go to school every single second of the day. Needless to say, they wanted her to make the decision on her own. All of her choices were east coast schools and her decision came down to the small differences between the 10 liberal arts colleges.
At this point she was feeling very lost and very confused. She had grown up in church and always believed that when a decision like this came that she would feel guided in one way or another. She was so frustrated at this point in time because she felt that she was standing all by herself to make this decision with basically no one there to help her.
We went to our favorite beach (the one I basically grew up on), sat on the wall at 10 pm with our Starbucks in hand and tried to solve the problems of the world. Needless to say, we didn't end any major global problems, but she admitted that she wasn't sure if she believed in God anymore. She felt very let down in the fact that He wasn't providing any guidance and she decided that she had to find a new religion.
After a venti skim milk vanilla latte (extra hot), we decided that her religion would be her family and friends. She had devoted her life to religion and to serving God, and since she no longer felt that way, she wanted to devote herself to her friends and family in the same way that she had devoted herself to God.
Bottom line, the term religion can be defined by each person. We all come up with our own unique definitions of religion, and our religions each hold a different significance.
It was sometime over spring break last year, and Sam had received acceptances from 10 out of the 11 colleges that she had applied to. Her father was the headmaster and former college counselor of our high school and her mother comes from one of the wealthiest families in the state of California. One would think that they would offer their opinions on where she should go to school every single second of the day. Needless to say, they wanted her to make the decision on her own. All of her choices were east coast schools and her decision came down to the small differences between the 10 liberal arts colleges.
At this point she was feeling very lost and very confused. She had grown up in church and always believed that when a decision like this came that she would feel guided in one way or another. She was so frustrated at this point in time because she felt that she was standing all by herself to make this decision with basically no one there to help her.
We went to our favorite beach (the one I basically grew up on), sat on the wall at 10 pm with our Starbucks in hand and tried to solve the problems of the world. Needless to say, we didn't end any major global problems, but she admitted that she wasn't sure if she believed in God anymore. She felt very let down in the fact that He wasn't providing any guidance and she decided that she had to find a new religion.
After a venti skim milk vanilla latte (extra hot), we decided that her religion would be her family and friends. She had devoted her life to religion and to serving God, and since she no longer felt that way, she wanted to devote herself to her friends and family in the same way that she had devoted herself to God.
Bottom line, the term religion can be defined by each person. We all come up with our own unique definitions of religion, and our religions each hold a different significance.
2 Comments:
It seems like an awfully strange reason to give up on something which she was "devoted" to her entire life. But to each his own.
at least in the christian faith, we're basically promised hard times. they're inevitable.
i dunno. it just seems...strange, like adam said.
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