Religion & Spirituality
What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘religion’?
Many issues and conflicts have arisen today revolving around the word ‘religion’. In the same way, a lot of opinions and prejudices are being expressed through various forms of media in the present day. But before we try to examine and criticize such things, let us try to go back to square one. What is religion? What does it intend to do? As we go and answer these questions, we also come across the term ‘spirituality’.
Religion came from the latin word religare, which means ‘to bind’. According to the dictionary, it refers to the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods (dictionary.com., 2016). On the other hand, spirituality, in general, includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life (Krentzman, 2013). The word spirituality comes from root words in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that all mean wind, breath, or air — that which gives life (What Is Spirituality?, 2013).
What I have here is a poster with a statement, “In oceans deep, my faith will stand”. The poster is created by a friend of mine, who is a visual graphics artist. Although the line may have been taken from a famous Christian worship song, I believe it says a lot more than Christianity itself. If someone’s going to ask you: ‘What do you believe in and why do you believe in it?’, what will you answer? Truly, a person’s response to these two simple questions really determine a lot about his life direction and purpose.
An ocean is defined as the whole body of salt water that covers nearly three fourths of the surface of the earth (Merriam-Webster, 2016). It can also pertain to a very large number or amount of something (Merriam-Webster, 2016). Now, relating ocean to religion and spirituality, how far do you think you can go on with what you believe in? When you’re placed in the middle of a vast space of countless perspectives and beliefs, just like being in the middle of the ocean, what will you do? Are you going to sink deeper and deeper in your faith and let it stand, or are you just going to let yourself be dragged by the seemingly powerful waves of the water around you? I believe that as a human being we should be able to clearly tell the world what we believe in and at the same time listen to what others believe in, yet not be intimidated by the difference in belief nor cause conflict among humanity. Even as a drop in the ocean, your conviction matters. Much more the way you stand firmly when everything else tries to shake you.
“Those who speak of spirituality outside of religion often define themselves as spiritual but not religious and generally believe in the existence of different “spiritual paths,” emphasizing the importance of finding one’s own individual path to spirituality” (Wikipedia, 2016).
