Cerebral Combustion
The art of following in the name of religion
Feedback from Jun Cordero:
You were raised a Catholic & then what? Did you seriously practice what was on the readings, psalms, gospels, beatitudes, the Commandments, the Bible, spiritual and corporal works of mercy?
Was there something missing?
Pax
True, I was raised a Catholic like I mentioned in my past column, I am Losing my Religion which came out last May 17, 2007. I too, pointed out that I diverted my faith to a more intimate level when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior way back in high school. I was reared from a family of deep religious backgrounds. While still young, my grandmother always makes sure we pray the rosary and go to church on Sundays. It used be imperative that we kids, memorize the prayers, the sacraments and all other Catholic teachings. But it was not until I was admitted to a Christian academy that I came to be fully attentive and responsive to the contents of the Bible. We were taught how to read and understand what it contains and learned to share it to others. I sang with the choir and taught kids on Sunday school. However, my personal desires and needs thwarted me towards a different direction-- to a different path that made me indolent of my faith. As I moved on and grew older, life to me converted into a larger scope of random test between haphazard pursuits of pleasure and self gratification. In some points of my life, my faith and the wisdom I have learned, fell into lethargy as I was overwhelmed by my own capacity to trust my own. At other times, when my life was in disarray I literally bend my knees and go crawling back to him like an unfed maggot.
Point is, no matter what religion you are raised with, your own faith will never fail to lead you towards the profundity of discovering the true meaning of what the church or the bible teaches and the experiences you go through intensifies the wisdom that underlies beneath it. Suffice to it to say, that one can claim to be religious but truth be told, it is extremely difficult to be righteous, more so at all times. Living in a treacherous world does not make it easy to constantly abide by the respect of God's teachings but naturally, that is how and what we are--sinners. But the fact that we are taught to be virtuous and morally good, that what makes religion important. Through the Word of God and the works of the Lord we are taught to be upright.
I think no one has the right to question any individual's personal practices according to their beliefs. We each stand by our own values, viewpoints, way of life and religious convictions. True, our actions reflect our own faith but none of us can really concede the rectitude of seriously following each religious teaching. Sometimes we are good to ourselves and to others, oftentimes we simply fail. And whether we are noble or not in the eyes of God, we are given the prerogative of asking for forgiveness and most of all, strength and fortitude, to correct our transgressions.
I defy myself to being corrupt and debauched but I too, refuse to be equally blameless. I live with my conscience. I bow to my God and let him be my only judge. I will die with his assurance. Religion will only lead me but i'ts faith that will make me.
''It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life.'' --Phil Ochs