Sunday Reflection
Dear 20 Something’s,
Happy Sunday! I hope that everybody’s Sunday is going great. I hope that you’re not at work stuck with a 16-hour shift like me. My wishes are that you’ll be eating a good Sunday dinner and find yourself fulfilled with the practices of whatever religion you identify with. If you are stuck at work today with a 16-hour shift, a couple of hours, or more hours than 16, I hope that you have something to look forward to when you get off even if it is just sleep.
Usually, on Sundays, I go to church if I am not working. This is, of course, before the COVID - 19 days. I have identified with Christianity ever since I could remember. Christianity was the foundation in my household as I was grew up, and still is. My entire family firmly believes in the Christian faith. Since I have gotten older, I have a bit more autonomy over my religious beliefs. I think that your upbringing has a lot to do with your religion of choice. That means whether you decided that you didn’t agree with the faith that you were brought up with and decided to convert to something else, you loved the religion that you were brought up with and stayed with it, or you’re afraid to branch out because your identity is intrinsically tied to the foundational belief that you decide to visit or the possibility of being shunned by your family and peers.
I have personally in my life struggled a little bit with the balance being a christian and a 23 years old woman . Like me, some people go through a phase of curiosity. I had so many questions, and as I was growing, I found myself feeling like I couldn’t be myself, have fun, enjoy life, and still live honestly as a Christian. I know that none of us are perfect, but I found myself wanting to enjoy life the way I wanted to, and that didn’t match with the Christianity guidelines. I talked to one of my friends, and we were discussing what religion they identified themselves with, saying, “Christianity.” Still, they found themselves to be more spiritual than they were religious. I had no idea what that meant other than their small crash course on what it was. From what I heard, it resonated with me so much because I am thinking this matches me entirely. We were both very uneducated, and I still am not entirely sold on what it is to be spiritual vs. being religious. On the internet lies so many different variations of what the two (being spiritual or being religious) consist of. I have recently decided that I would like to explore this a little bit more. I, by no means, am saying that I don’t want to be a Christian. I just would like to explore this side of myself in depth. I would like to know the difference between being spiritual vs. being religious. I would like to see if you could be both at the same time? Let me know what you all think? Do any of you know what it means to be either of these things? Have you ever experienced something like this?
