StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

My Life, My Religion - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
In the following personal statement, an author would share his experience getting acknowledged with the Bible. Material wealth seems to be what consumes many people’s thoughts and dreams while other concerns such as integrity are somewhat less important. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.3% of users find it useful
My Life, My Religion
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "My Life, My Religion"

My Life, My Religion Born and raised in a fairly affluent area of a large my influences, therefore my patterns of thought and behavior, reflected the external factors generally associated with this lifestyle. Monetary gain, social status and educational excellence dominated most every social interaction and individual contemplation. Like seemingly everyone else in the extended neighborhood, I went to church every Sunday though I didn’t look forward to sitting still for over an hour. It did provide another venue in which to gather with friends. To help ease the monotony of the sermon, I began reading during the long oration. The Bible or the hymn book was my only choices so I choose the storybook. My parents decided to allow me to read, I suppose, because it kept me from sleeping or fidgeting. My interest in this very long and difficult to comprehend book grew over time as did the time invested in exploring it. I began reading at home during episodes of boredom. This experience during my early teen years changed my outlook and shaped my philosophy on life. As I read, what I thought was important became rather meaningless. I began to develop a much different set of values than my friends, neighbors and family. What fascinated me the most were the first four books of the New Testament. I found the words of Christ simple, to the point and ultimately a path to inner contentment. The Bible gave me the foundation of what I have built upon since my youth. Since then, I have read other philosophical and religious books and found they do not contradict, in fact they support the tenets found in the Bible. Though the roots of my viewpoint begin with the Bible, I do not consider myself Christian, far from it. Most religions I know including and especially Christianity teach that ‘we are the right path to God’ therefore no other belief system is valid. My interpretation of Christ’s words leads me to believe division is ultimately destructive for the individual and society. Rather, I concluded that inclusion and finding the similarities help bind us all together. The words of Christ allowed me to develop a new viewpoint which teaches the path to real happiness. In my case, this involves thinking in ways that bolster my self respect, what makes me proud of me. Others, of course, have different views on what makes them happy such as ‘if I make more money, I’d be higher on the social ladder’ or ‘if I had more control over my life, I’d be happy then.’ These are goals, yes, but not a sound philosophy. Material wealth seems to be what consumes many people’s thoughts and dreams while other concerns such as integrity, compassion and open-mindedness are somewhat less important. I believe that these qualities are the very matters that produce happiness thus improving my quality of life as well as others that I come in contact with. Inner peace involves being able to examine your position on a topic and questioning why you think a certain way. This leads to questioning and modifying core beliefs, a sign of growth which is an important facet of my personal philosophy. Spiritual and intellectual growth drives all aspects of living and interrelating with other people which is another important feature of life. How we interact and affect other souls, to me, gives the greatest reward. Giving people something that they all too often do not receive, respect and unbiased understanding, gives me a self-gratification that cannot be matched. Whether or not the end result is for the common good or for selfish reasons, a philosophy of life follows in the way of what we believe we need to be happy, a selfish act in itself. The external force of a mysterious, ancient book set in motion a completely different concept of life and living that will continue all of my life. It is ironic that reading the Bible drove me away from the church. I suppose I should be glad that the church did not offer comic books to read. My religion became one of my own making and continues to evolve as new experiences bring new knowledge. It is a combination of differing religions, philosophies, and ideologies assimilated through personal introspection. My personal, unique religion gives me a sound foundation by which to live but it also is a barrier to social interactions. During high school, I was invited to many religion-related sponsored youth events. At church camp, for example, I went through the motions during group prayer and sang the songs at the ‘revival tent’ but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was as enemy infiltrator, as if I were carrying a terrible secret and to reveal this knowledge would seal my doom. Over-dramatic wording of course but the feeling was always present and still is. It’s amazing how many times I’m asked what church I attend or during the course of casual conversation, it’s simply assumed that I am a Christian; that I am of the right-wing ideology. I do try to do unto others, not cast the first stone, etc, which has prompted more than a few people to remark to me, ‘that’s a Christian thing to do.’ I never correct them, just smile and nod my head. Once a lady and I had been talking for a few minutes then she, completely off subject, said that she was involved in a single’s group and asked if I would like to join. I said I was interested, because I knew that she was pleasant, intelligent (and cute) and maybe there were more like her there. She handed me a card for the organization, a Christian organization. I explained that I would still like to go but wasn’t a Christian myself. By the look on her face, you’d think I said I was actually a girl dressed to look like a boy. My unique religion is a comfort to me but it also makes aspects of life socially uncomfortable. It seems so simple to me and so complex to others. My religion does not involve stained glass windows, flowing robes, pipe organ music and time–honored ceremonies. It does, however, have one advantage. Wherever I am, my religion is with me. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“My Life, My Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
My Life, My Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/creative-writing/1539362-writer-please-provide-topic-here
(My Life, My Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
My Life, My Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/creative-writing/1539362-writer-please-provide-topic-here.
“My Life, My Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/creative-writing/1539362-writer-please-provide-topic-here.
  • Cited: 2 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF My Life, My Religion

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth

In this same connection, the aspect of religion comes in.... hellip; The true implication of religion means that it is a cultural and belief system, which is at times related to the moral value of people and their relation to religion (Brodd, 2003).... This is despite the fact that people have different perspectives about the issue of religion.... For establishing whether the individuals in the planet are religious and the contents of this religion, a criterion will has to be used for pointing out the various factors, which come into play about religion....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

The Religious Life of Planet Earth

REPORT ON THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF PLANET EARTH Name Institution Introduction The topic on religion has tended to elicit a lot of controversy and confusion pertaining to its definition and core practices.... To this end, some of the definitions accorded to religion normally exhibit deficiency in the belief systems that should constitute religion or exhibit ambiguity and vagueness whereby anything qualifies as religion (Bowker, 1997)....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Creating Your Own Religion

religion refers to the kind of faith that a person has in something, and the belief that he or she extracts out in the name of that very faith; According to the dictionary, religion refers to ‘the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal… d or gods.... Millions of years ago, a number of religions came into existence and people all around the world attached themselves to whichever religion they felt was acceptable to them and brought them peace and harmony in their lives. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism All these faiths teach people how to believe in themselves and understand the true meaning of one's existence on this planet....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Religious Life of Planet Earth

There are… religion usually relates humanity to moral values and spirituality.... Many religions have symbols, traditions, sacred histories Religious Life of Planet Earth RELIGIOUS LIFE OF PLANET EARTH religion describes the tradition, practice and artifacts of a belief structure.... religion usually relates humanity to moral values and spirituality.... This is a superb example of beliefs because it shows that people of that religion believe in one Almighty God....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Religion Does More Harm than Good

The author states that a religion plays such an important role that there just cannot be any other substitute for the same… The author concludes that a religion plays a fundamental role in the lives of the people and should be respected as such.... This is because the followers have a responsibility to not only respect their own religion but allow others to respect their own as well.... It is a good way of letting people live their lives as and how they wish to live it Giving respect to the followers of a religion and believing in one's own religion is the basis of knowing how and where this harmony can be enacted in essence (Morgan, 2005)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

My Life in the Religion and How I Share My Ideas Related to Islam

The paper "my life in the Religion and How I Share My Ideas Related to Islam" discusses that the task faced by authentic Muslims which is to disown the doctrines of the extremists and practice the teachings of the Quran as a book that requires the world to love and serve God.... This paper will discuss my life in religion and how I share my ideas and leave with the world.... Jihadism may be termed as the religion of the Jahiliya, which refers to the pre-Islamic ages in the Arabian Peninsula (Levinson 114)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

What Sort of Religious Experience Should I Give My Children

And because of this I would like my Jesus proclaimed in John's Gospel, “I am the vine, you are the branches.... When Jesus Christ proclaimed, “This is my body… This is my blood,” (Wallace 25).... Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.... Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Describe the difference between religion & magic, giving examples of each. (Give 2 + examples each.)

The resultant concepts of these beliefs are religion and magic among others.... religion and magic exhibit difference in meaning and thus deserve to be clearly distinguished to avoid… The term religion comes from Latin word "religio" meaning the worship of demons long before Jesus Christ by the Romans (Frazer 30).... religion, therefore, consists of cultural systems, feelings and beliefs that provide a guideline in relation to The Difference between religion and Magic....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us