Daily prompt : faith, a sign

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faith, postaday2013, Religion

Describe a memory or encounter in which you considered your faith, religion, spirituality — or lack of — for the first time.

I went to Catholic school for a long time; from kindergarten through to graduating from high school. I remember loving the stories that our kind priest used to tell us and I loved listening to my first grade teacher, Sister Amelia, sing the most beautiful hymns, her voice was the voice of an angel and I felt closer to God. I remember loving the whole entire ceremony of mass, the rituals and reverence. I remember feeling so small, so infinitesimal in the middle of God’s universe. I never questioned God or Catholicism, not then at least, my questions and doubt came later, in high school.

Do you believe in free will or do you think that it is all pre-determined?

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Free will, postaday2011, Religion

I believe in free will. The idea of pre-determination is depressing and distressing to me. I like to think that the future is wide open, we make our own future if you will. I don’t know if what I believe would qualify as God but I believe that there is an energy in the universe and within each of us. According to Albert Einstein, energy is a constant, it cannot be created or destroyed which is why some in the scientific community subscribe to biocentrism which in part explains that when we pass away, it is not the end but a transfer of energy from us to the universe. I have read quite a few lengthy articles written by scientists and amidst their descriptions of their scientific findings, they explain how their findings energized them by bringing mystery and science in the same realm of discussion. They basically stated that science and faith didn’t have to be separate, for them our energy and the energy in the universe tie into the mystery of the origin of the universe and life itself.

I know that my faith or lack there of will put off quite a few people, but when I speak of the energy that I believe is all around us and within us, it could be God. I just feel more comfortable believing in an energy that is energy, that doesn’t have human qualities, that doesn’t come with expectations for me or from me. I spent my school years in catholic school with the good nuns and wonderful brothers, so I have been taught the scriptures and the gospels. I came away with an interest in the history of the church and of other religions. It is really intriguing and when combined with anthropology, it becomes riveting, but somewhere along the line in high school I became disenchanted with religion for religion’s sake. I started to question, not God’s existence but the persona assigned to God by man.

With all this. I have true respect for people of all faiths. I admire them because they have something that I either lack or that I lost, I’m not sure. I am happy for them and I love reading my friends blogs when they devote their posts to interpreting passages of the bible. I always learn something and I get greater insight about how faith is for them and it is beautiful.