Briana Montez-CHRS 1
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Campbell University *
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125
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Religion
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
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3
Uploaded by MajorCrown13739
Briana Montez
Professor Christopher Batten
Introduction to Christianity
3/16/2024
Reflection Paper #1
In life, I have not particularly had a “spiritual journey” per se. Over the past couple of years, however, I have increasingly become aware of the presence of the Lord in my life as well as those around me. Growing up, I never fully participated in many traditions that someone who were Christian or Catholic would participate in. I celebrated national holidays such as Christmas and Easter but was never educated on the deeper meanings behind them. My immediate family and myself did not attend any church, and I was not baptized or passed through any ceremony or stages of the Christian faith. I have always been aware of the presence of God only from what others would describe. It always seemed loosely based and somewhat supernatural to me. This is because nobody had taken the time to educate me, and I never sought out the opportunity to fully
immerse myself in Christianity. Three key factors have seemed to be the ignition of my spiritual journey. Those three key factors were attending this Christian faith-based school, getting married
to my husband who belongs to the Catholic faith, and being hired at a job which my boss had described as a form of divine intervention.
When I applied to this school and started taking classes, the thought of it requiring classes
based on Christianity was a bit intimidating. I was not opposed to the idea, although felt as if I did not know much. Nevertheless, I continued to pursue my education at this university. Overtime, I had become increasingly curious of the Christian faith. Then I met my husband and
although he is Catholic, my research had shown me that they bear great similarities as it is a branch of Christianity. He had grown up in a household where they observed Lent, attended Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, and gone to Sunday mass every week. He told me about how he was baptized and had undergone communion and confirmation. It was staggering to hear his experience and how much it differed from mine. It seemed so amazing the way he described the presence of the Lord in his life, and it inspired that feeling inside of me to pursue the same. He began to pray for me and with me, we would pray before meals, and I did not eat meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent with him. I have not attended a church or felt like I belonged to a church, but I did feel the increasing connection to God which was a jump start to my spiritual journey. His relationship with God was inspiring to me, and ever since I have
been wanting to find a church that I can call my second home. We have recently welcomed a child that I would like to baptize, but I would also like to get baptized. I just feel like this curiosity needs to be supported by factual evidence and further understanding of the Lord and his
teachings, because I do not want to feel the guilt of being a “follower of God”, in other words reaping the benefits and claiming faith, but not truly knowing the beginning and basis of this religion. So, for this purpose, I do not claim to be Christian but am curious and want to further develop my relationship and understanding with God. Finally, I applied to a jewelry store here in Jacksonville North Carolina. I had just found out I was pregnant at the time and was working at a demanding job far away for little pay. I was looking for another job with little luck. My husband talked to the family-owned business from which he had gotten my wedding ring from, and they said they were looking for some help and asked me to come in for an interview. They were a devout couple to the Christian faith and expressed that in the interview through casual conversation. The wife and co-owner of the
jewelry store was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and was noticeably struggling to do the job she was normally required to complete. They said we could not have come into their lives at a better time and said that God had worked in mysterious ways and always has a plan. My husband would take the wife and co-owner to Raleigh for her Cancer treatment and appointments so the husband/co-owner and I could still process orders and keep the store open and running. They could not express their gratitude enough and it was a symbiotic relationship as we all cherished each other’s friendship. They would bring up the Lord, and pointed out the fact that this was no coincidence, to which I agreed. This was another cue to the embarkment of my spiritual journey. I could feel myself growing closer and closer to God.
Many people may read the University’s mission statement and find it intimidating in the sense that they must conform to Christianity to be a member of this University. I interpret this statement differently. The worldview informed by Christian principles and perspectives serves as
a basis for how we should treat one another. Love thy neighbor as thyself, treat all those with respect, and lead a good and honest life. This mission statement serves as a reminder that we should lead our lives with good and true intentions, as God would intend us to do. This line does not necessarily represent my spirituality, but more so describes how I feel. People often get lost in the ideology of Christianity that they forget its mission is to spread love and peace enabling people to be true with one another. This statement may feel slightly foreign to me because I have not grown up fully immersed in the Christian faith, but nonetheless inspires me to increase my knowledge of the faith and further pursue a Christian life. This statement makes me inquisitive of
the Christian faith and makes me want to fully understand the core Christian principes and perspectives. It is only then when I will feel like I can fully feel like a member of the faith and earn the right to call myself Christian.
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