Religion seems to be something that people make up. It is their beliefs of the world and the purpose of life. I am in a stage of discovery of what I believe. As I have experienced more life, I have felt the need to explore the spiritual aspects of my life outside of what the Church teaches. Note: this does not me I have lost my morals or am becoming morally wrong. I am in a process of self discovery and finding meaning.
In sociology, they call the period of life that I am in emerging adulthood. This era of life is a phenomena that has started to occur mainly in the US and among other first world countries. It is a period of self-discovery. Emerging adults typically do not feel ready for adulthood, yet they aren't adolescents. They are also looking for an escape from the controls their parents place/placed upon them.
Now that I'm out of my house and away from BYU, I have been able to explore my life more in depth and discover new beliefs if you will or beliefs that I didn't recognize before. I still believe in God. I don't think that God plays as big a role in our daily lives as the LDS Church plays it to be (God's hand is in everything). There are moments when I know that He has helped me or provided an opportunity, but I believe He lets me make my own decisions and live my own life. He helps me only when I need it. Here are some examples of why I believe the way I do.
My senior year at BYU I was applying to medical school. Something about it didn't feel entirely right, but parts of it felt right. After getting sick during the application season and only going to a few interviews, I realized my true passion was medical research. I wanted to be an MD/PhD. If God really plays a role in our everyday lives, I feel he would have told me to apply to MD/PhD programs before I started applying to medical schools because I spent over $5,000 just to realize that I wanted to be a medical scientist. That just doesn't entirely make sense to me if he didn't allow me to live my own life and not intervene. He wanted me to make my decisions and go with what felt right. At the time, MD felt as right as I wanted it to feel, but as I stated, it wasn't right for me. I don't think it will ever be right for me. Some will argue that God's hand was in this and wanted me to experience the pain of heart break, wasting money, struggling with decisions, etc. I don't think he wanted me to experience that at all. I've experienced it one too many times in the past and I didn't need a reminder.
Then when I started looking for jobs, I don't think God had a hand in it. I found some programs that I wanted to apply to and I applied. Of course it took a while to get a job interview, but was it really God who gave me this job or was it my hard work and dedication? I believe it was the latter. I killed myself in school and research to get where I am today. Did God put me here? No... He did not push me through school and research. I did that myself. It was my own free will. I could have chosen to party like my classmates and friends, but I chose to do what I wanted to do. I worked hard to get where I am today.
I will admit that God has helped me in difficult situations though. He may have provide the opportunity for me to receive the job I have, but at the same time I know I worked hard for it. I was desperate when the interview came and it has been good for me to move out to Maryland. So He might have had a role in that. I know that God has also saved my life on numerous occasions. I almost drown when I was little. He gave me the strength to reach the surface when I was blacking out. I've almost been killed in car accidents too, but I felt something tell me to slow down or not to go. Seconds later a car comes flying by and would have hit me if I was there.
Yes, I do believe in God and I do believe He helps me in certain situations. However, I do not believe He helps me in all situations. I do most of the work myself and He lets me make my own decisions. He only corrects me or provides opportunities when I might die when it's not my time or when I need to chance to make my life better.
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4 comments:
How do you spell arrogant gay boy who thinks he is better than God? Oh, yeah, s-e-a-n.
Discovering what you believe can be a difficult process. I am going through it now. Good luck! And good luck with the application process!
Wow Anonymous...
Such venom in your words. I never said I was better than God. I'm far from it. I have plenty of faults and I'm not perfect. I'll be the first to admit all of my faults. Would you like to hear them? I can dedicate a whole blog post to them.
This is what I believe and you can take it for what it's worth to you. Do you think that God tells you which groceries to buy or when to do your homework? No... YOU make those decisions. He has given me many talents, BUT it is up to me to use them as I see fit. Hmmm, this reminds me of a parable Jesus taught in the New Testament. Does it sound familiar to you?
You shouldn't attack the beliefs of others. This is exactly what drives people out of the Church. If people were more considerate and Christ-like, the world would be a better place.
So thank you anonymous for making is world a more awful place to live in than it already is. Love you. Mean it.
Thanks Mister Curie! I'm feeling better now with the whole process. I received another rejection today, but I handled it much better. Only time will tell to see what will happen. Good luck in your self-discovery too! :)
Sean-
Emerging adulthood is such a difficult time. And trust me, I can relate to questioning established beliefs and systems. Though I understand where you are coming from with your post, there is so much power in faith. Faith in yourself, faith in your own potential, faith in a divine being, faith in others, faith in karma, faith in a better day and faith in a better world.
I fear a world that lacks faith in progress and progression.
You are going to be successful and help so many people. I have faith in you.
Good luck.
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