Before we began our trek through the pages of the bible, we prayed. Individually we prayed, I was advised to pray as if it were a conversation between me and God. in stillness and complete silence I thought about what some of the things were I should say to God.
This was me in the religious class I attended this week. The focus was to have a basic understanding through the bible. It reminded in alot of the three and only three Sunday’s schools classes i attended as a little girl. It was a class of three: two returning students and me. I decided to attend after running into an old friend, who happened to be one of the returning students. Our random "bump in" seemed to be a part of her philosophy that "everything happens for a reason." I was surprised by both her transformation into this religious field and by myself accepting her religious class invitation. Although a little uncomfortable I forced myself to be open minded, for the sake of being respectful to other peoples beliefs, for the sake of this piece, for general insight.
The teacher? The instructor? The guide seems like more of an appropriate term, started our discussion with the basic of where we came from. In the bible reads "The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." This section tells us that man is created with the tangible aspect of dust, which translates to the tangible aspect of us: our body. The other part of man is the part that is not visible to the naked eye and that is breath, translated into a person’s spirit. Throughout the bible there are constant decisions of body and sprit. The two are treated as two parts. Because in this religion the belief is that the sprit is what lives on pass the time that the body does. This is where the bible mentions the eternal life. Which is a life with no time boundaries. Different sections of the bible suggest people born before the earth. The fact is that the earth was created 4 billion years ago; the bible suggests that it’s the spirit that lives on in heaven.
Heaven is described in the bible as such a paradise. It is "The Kingdom of Heaven" a place of "delight always" and rejoices. With such a paradise I the after life people with these beliefs seem to have a motivation to do well on earth. What does that mean though? I looked for the simply answers in this class. Basically the story of our existence is told that we all, meaning our spirits started in heaven. Humans were sent to earth after committing the violence act of greed, selfishness in heaven. People sinned in trying to overrule god and therefore were sent to earth. It is interpreted form the bible that Sinning equals death. This gives insight as to why people who practice these beliefs find the need to make their sins forgiven.
It is these beliefs that circulate in my family. I was raised very causally with these beliefs never truly understanding it. My grandmother, who made all her children attend Sunday schools, insisted that my mother do the same with me. So as a child I attended approximately three Sunday schools classes. I simply wasn’t interested as a child and simply unwilling as a teen.
I traced back these strong practicing beliefs in my family to my grandmother. She always has been so entwined with these practices. So much that after making first communion and confirmation she continued on in hopes of becoming a nun. She decided against it after meeting the man who is now my grandpa. The story thickens years later when they divorce. A forced decision and a sin in the bible my grandma further developed herself in the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment