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AlexandraRexFirstPaper 8 - 18 Apr 2012 - Main.CourtneyDoak
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What is Catholic? | | | Ultimately, choice of spirituality and religious identification is a very personal decision, one that may constantly evolve throughout a life span and one that each individual must reach on their own. While some may derive great personal value from following the sermons of their priest to the letter, others, like myself, prefer to commune with God and practice spirituality in a different way. I don’t think either method is less worthy of respect than the other. It is often difficult however, being raised in a community focused on the former approach, to redefine yourself without feeling as though you are betraying your family, friends or community and isolating yourself from them. I definitely think Alix, as Eben said, that your new experience with meditation may prove to be very valuable. In addition to enabling you to dismiss distraction and subdue hectic consciousness, it may also help you to build upon the keen sense of self-awareness and introspection already emanating from your words, assisting you to reconcile seemingly conflicting emotions and define your own spirituality throughout your life.
-- MeaganBurrows - 17 Apr 2012 | |
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> | Toma and Meagan,
I found both of your responses so enlightening, and helpful, in broadening the contours of self-reflection on my religious and spiritual identity. Toma, like Meagan, I really liked your delineation of how the trajectory of our relationships with our religious institutions mirrors the trajectory of the parent-child relationship. I found the analogy comforting in that it acknowledges the imperfections inherent in these "flawless fortresses of morality and prudence", but it reframes those imperfections as opportunities for more honest examination of and introspection on these organizations. While such examination might be painful - I know it was for me, as I grew disillusioned with my Church in middle school and tried to reconcile my adherence to the institution with my fundamental disbelief in some of its shaping ideals - I now see that perhaps this process is actually imperative to shaping a 'custom-fit' religious and spiritual experience, an experience that's a personally meaningful reflection of one's most deeply held beliefs.
And Meagan, I really appreciate your point that subscribing to only some of the stances espoused by a particular religious institution isn't indicative of or synonymous with cognitive dissonance or splitting, but rather an illustration of individuality, an inherently beautiful incoherence that's unique to each of us. Both points, I found, were instructive in recasting my thoughts on Alix's essay and our conversation earlier today regarding the value we derive from our respective religious institutions in spite of our distaste for some of the fundamental tenets of those very institutions. And I'd also like to thank you both for sharing your thoughts because I found them really helpful in beginning to facilitate a more self-accepting way to think about my own faith and spiritual identity.
-- CourtneyDoak - 18 Apr 2012 | | | \ No newline at end of file |
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