MY PERSONAL MUSINGS ABOUT GOD AND RELIGION

         

        Holy week is the most opportune time to reflect on our personal musings about God, religion, and ourselves. A perfect precursor to this was a four-part spiritual leadership seminar which I had the privilege to attend last four Wednesdays of March. It was entitled LIFEBIZ – L for leadership, I for integrity, F for Faith, and E for excellence. I rarely attend activities that border on the “religious”, since I have not yet found that religious glimmer in me. Don’t get me wrong, though. I do believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth…….

        So what motivated me to attend? First, I cannot offer any excuses not to attend because the seminar was conveniently held in our school, and the venue was just a floor away from my office. Second, I was personally invited by a good friend and dear colleague, Dr. Gin Planes who spearheaded the activity. Third, I was very curious as to who the guest speakers will be and was excited to hear their stories, particularly how their lives took a 180-degree turn when they embraced God and His teachings . Fourth, I kind of enjoyed the sharing part conducted at the latter part of each seminar. We were divided into groups, and a facilitator was assigned to each. For the last two seminars, our group was very fortunate to have as facilitator a very good friend of mine from college, Orthopedic surgeon from Australia Dr. Nando Acance. Naturally, I felt at ease doing my “sharing”, plus we got the chance to catch up a bit on our lives.

        During the third seminar, I told Dr. Acance that I am a rebel of some sort, in a sense that I do not succumb to religious rituals and ceremonies. I take my hats off though, to my fellow Catholics who really adhere to such. But for my part, I would rather have a direct and personal relationship with God, one that is not glued to rituals and other religious trimmings which I perceive as quite superficial. Yes, you go to the Church regularly, but are you actually practicing the virtues of your religion? Applying what you have learned from your priest, pastor, or minister is a different matter altogether. In my Philosophy of Man classes before, I emphasized to my students that our belief in God should stem from something deeper, not just from the way our mindset was conditioned by our religion, society and culture. When Man is born into this world, a lot of things were already pre-determined for him. Like what? His family, government, citizenship, name, customs, and yes, religion. This does not mean though, that we cannot challenge things anymore. We participate in rituals, but do we actually understand the meaning of such? If not, then what we are doing is meaningless!

        So why do you go to the Church? Is it because it has become a weekend habit of your family? You will go somewhere else after the mass? You will be scolded if you will not attend? The point that I am trying to arrive at, is that our belief in God has become so shallow and superficial. Do not just go with the flow! Not conforming to rituals will not make you less of a God-believer. Religious rituals are nice though, as they are hallmarks of civilization. But I have this repugnance towards being pressured to do or participate in such rituals, for pressure will only diminish my acts of voluntarism and sincerity in doing them. I will do things out of being properly motivated, not because I have to conform to conventions.

        But this I have to admit. I feel good after hearing mass. Happy Easter everyone!