Finding Faith

Finding Faith: So for those who know and don't know for about the last 6 years faith and religion is something that I have been searching for not knowing what I want. For about the last two years with my parents I have been attending the Universal Unitarian Church in Auburn- not often but I think this is as close as I will find to my personal beliefs. People have been asking me about my attendance at service here so this is why I will talk about it today- a Sunday, and on a Sunday I haven't attended service.

I don't know what it is- religion is a big part of everyone's life in Ghana- you can ride a trotro and get a sermon- you can be told by people on the street that by you not attending church on a Sunday you are doing wrong- you can walk around campus and see prayer circles- you can walk around on a Sunday and choice within the campus gates 7 different faiths to practice- you can sit before class and have a fellow student preach to you. What is it that makes Ghanaians faithful followers everyday of their life. We were told robbers pray before their crimes here- why then do they do the crime? We get wake up calls from people on mega phones in the field behind the hostel- waking us to the glory. There are not many people in the states that have this devotion to faith and when we see them most of us think they are crazy. So how is it that a whole country can have the alliance to their faith in that way.

The devotion to faith is amazing to me. Since I have challenged what I believe, what I think, and what I practice I am trying to find out what it is that I want in my faith while here. I have attended the interdenominational church a few times here because I feel it is where I best belong. It is still Christian based- I want to attend a Catholic Mass at some point- most likely later in the semester- just to see- for one I haven't been to a Catholic Mass since Freshmen year of high school.

Faith and spirituality is something that i have thought about a lot in my alone time here. Good morals is most important for our society to work but I don't think if a person decides they don't want to practice a certain religion they are wrong. When I try to explain to people here what the Universal Unitarian (which is the closest to my personal believes that I can find at this point) it is hard- social justice is hard to explain when some men still believe women should be in the home, that homosexuality is against the law here... how do you explain social justice? There are differences on what is against social norms and what is practiced by some. There are people here who accept everyone- but like in the States you have people who do not- so its hard to explain this. At Independence Day- they prayed with both Christian and Muslim prayers- acceptance of all- Social Justice? In a way- but they can't love alike while thinking differently.

So think about what you believe- not what your church says- think about what you want. Just for a minute- explore what you want! Take some time you might realize what you have been practicing you want to strengthen of something that you don't want at all. Explore the other options out there.

Another topic were I just write and see what comes out!