2008 Woodie Awards
Lent offers chance to find faith
Danielle Zawadzki
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: OpEd Page
I was thinking the other day about what to give up for Lent - aside from Miami guys. In the past, I've given up chocolate, swearing, and alcohol, but at this stressful point in my life I didn't think I could live without any of those things. I wasn't motivated to give anything up, but no matter how far you've strayed from the church, Catholic guilt always wins out. A lot of people I know have completely changed their religious beliefs since coming to college, a phenomenon I've noticed particularly among Catholics. I think a lot of it has to do with the type of environment that we're in. Being so sheltered from the outside world causes people to forget that there might be a force bigger than them. It's so easy to get wrapped up in all the drama of Miami life that it's no wonder many of us are self-absorbed.
I grew up in a pretty conservative, Catholic family, but I began to lose faith when I realized that my personal beliefs and the beliefs of the church are not always synonymous. It's hard for me to comprehend how anyone can preach about loving your neighbor as you love yourself and then condemning homosexuals for their "lifestyle choices."
I also realized that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and that God won't miraculously fall down from the sky to prevent those things from happening. I've had many debates with my friends over God's existence, and we're all so cynical. I can whine and moan about the Catholic Church as much as I want to, but that doesn't change the fact that's it my responsibility to have faith. We can believe in ourselves, believe in our friends or in our futures, but sometimes none of these are what we think they should be.
The majority of religions believe that there is some sort of life after death and that we need to perform good deeds in this life in order to get there. We want to believe that good people are rewarded for their actions even if our existence on earth is limited. I've had my share of mini existential crises but I've never doubted the existence of God. That's not due to any kind of strong faith on my part; I just haven't really had to think about it recently, because when things are going well you don't question why they're happening.
It's only when our life goes completely downhill and we've exhausted all our other coping strategies that we wonder why God's not there for us. Like any relationship, it's one that we have to continually work at. I always admired those people for whom faith came easily, and who could shrug off the problems in their lives with a firm conviction that God would take care of everything. I never thought that I could surrender that much control to the unknown. Maybe Lent is a reminder that it's not always such a bad idea to give things up.
I grew up in a pretty conservative, Catholic family, but I began to lose faith when I realized that my personal beliefs and the beliefs of the church are not always synonymous. It's hard for me to comprehend how anyone can preach about loving your neighbor as you love yourself and then condemning homosexuals for their "lifestyle choices."
I also realized that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and that God won't miraculously fall down from the sky to prevent those things from happening. I've had many debates with my friends over God's existence, and we're all so cynical. I can whine and moan about the Catholic Church as much as I want to, but that doesn't change the fact that's it my responsibility to have faith. We can believe in ourselves, believe in our friends or in our futures, but sometimes none of these are what we think they should be.
The majority of religions believe that there is some sort of life after death and that we need to perform good deeds in this life in order to get there. We want to believe that good people are rewarded for their actions even if our existence on earth is limited. I've had my share of mini existential crises but I've never doubted the existence of God. That's not due to any kind of strong faith on my part; I just haven't really had to think about it recently, because when things are going well you don't question why they're happening.
It's only when our life goes completely downhill and we've exhausted all our other coping strategies that we wonder why God's not there for us. Like any relationship, it's one that we have to continually work at. I always admired those people for whom faith came easily, and who could shrug off the problems in their lives with a firm conviction that God would take care of everything. I never thought that I could surrender that much control to the unknown. Maybe Lent is a reminder that it's not always such a bad idea to give things up.
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Scott Gilberti
posted 3/14/07 @ 4:53 PM EST
Looking to find faith & know God? Open your Bible & read the Gospel of John. Once you finish that, go back to Matthew, read that & then read the rest of the New Testament. (Continued…)
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