The first nineteen years of my life were developed through the lens of a single church/school. Through three weekly worship services, two prayer services, youth group, home-fellowship group, men’s breakfast, and school five days a week, my worldview matured. I have to stress that Calvary Temple was my world, it was my society, and much of who I am is because of that church. Of the 400+ members, 98% of the congregation consisted of white or African-Americans. The area is a highly educated and high-income society that regards Western values and morals as the pinnacle of “high-society”. A part of this value system was the reverence for punctuality. I was trained from a young age that a responsible man is always 10-minutes early, at the latest. …show more content…
The differences between Calvary Temple and Word of Life are overwhelming. No longer was I part of the majority culture but became a minority in a church that outwardly celebrated the different cultures of the world. Sunday morning worship was a sea of colors, as Africans and Indians came to worship God in traditional dressing. Singing in other languages was common when our worship team was represented by 8 different nationalities spanning the entire world. It is easy to say that this new environment was a culture shock in comparison to my early life at …show more content…
Chen and Starosta say that “Values tend to be the basis of all the decisions we make and provide standards for us to evaluate our own and others’ actions.” My high value of punctuality directly clashed with many other cultures value of flexible time, resulting in personal-resentment. Hesselgrave stresses the importance of time within a culture. “A culture’s view of time – past, present, and future – is exceedingly important as we will see.” I failed to see how my view of time could be anything but the correct view. I had to come to a place of humbleness. God showed me that I was in no position to question the intent of their actions. Who am I to judge these people as lazy or disrespectful based upon a different worldview and value of
Church is a major part of my life. I have always gone to church. It is a part of who I am. Church is not only about sitting through church services. I am currently involved in Russian school, Sunday school, camps, wind ensemble, teens’ group, teens' choir, and youth group. There are so many engaging activities and groups that bring together our community, defining who we are as individuals and as a society.
Chronemics, also known as the study of time, varies greatly from culture to culture. The American culture is very adamant about time, that if one is late to an event, a negative message is usually attached to their behavior. Arriving to class or to a meeting on time is a typical norm for this
Again I was raised neutrally with religion. As a family we didn't attend church. My grandparents are all Jehovah's Witness's, although both my father and mother ended up being disfellowshipped from the congregation. Since not having any religious influence being taught to me, I was open to explore different religions for myself. I learned about several different religions. I know now that I am a Spiritualist, rather than Christian.
As it was stated by our country’s founding father, Benjamin Franklin, “you may delay, but time will not. The assignment given, encouraged me to acutely contemplate his words, which in turn lead me to realize how powerful of a concept he really conveyed. If you think about it, since the beginning of time, time has remained perfectly constant without any pauses or interruptions, and could possibly be our most accurate form of systematic measurement. Not to mention, living in a world that functions solely on time, it’s relieving to know we can always count on time, as Father Time will never be late and should be upheld as our most reliable source. Moving clockwise, this assignment asked me to apply Erma Bombeck’s “Seize The Moment” philosophy to my own life, and determine whether I lived by this standard or not. Without much thought I knew right away, that although I completely agree with Erma in seizing the moment, I personally have not adopted this mentality as a lifestyle to follow. My reason being, Erma failed to acknowledge that more important than “seizing the moment,” in my opinion, is a responsible person should first understand that “timing is key” to everything. Putting time as the building block on the bottom of the pyramid, all other virtues such as seizing opportunities, achieving success and accomplishing goals are purely contingent on time. I’m optimistic in believing opportunities have and will continue to present themselves to me for as long as I stay on the right path. My outlook on life allows me to easily choose responsibility over opportunity without hesitation or any remorse. My current responsibilities that prevents me from seizing the moment include, I’m a single mother caring for three young girls, my financ...
into my life. Then one day I felt a stronger call to the vocation of becoming a minister. I was
During this time, many people judged others by the way they looked or the actions they took part in. The Golden Rule takes part as a major role in life, and these citizens completely disregards this rule. These people treat others
As I evaluate the community at Cornerstone, I wonder what everyone’s spiritual life looks like. It’s hard to know. Everyone is at a different place - that’s perfectly acceptable. I just hope everyone is committed to growth, no matter how far along in their walk with God they may be. I think, if there were one thing about the student culture that I would change is the lack of pursuit of spiritual guidance. Among many students, I see a general reluctance to attend chapels. As I scanned for the last Evensong for the semester, I was surprised how many people joyfully exclaimed, “I did it, guys! All 25 credits.” That didn’t include those who hadn’t successfully reached 25. I wholeheartedly understand how chapel may not be convenient. You’re tired. You have a project. There will always be an excuse. The same could be said for those who do not regularly attend church. After having my share of 7:30am classes, I understand not wanting to wake up
Raised by evangelical Christian parents who switched from High Church traditions to non-denominationalism during their adulthood, encountering megachurch culture was an inevitable byproduct of my upbringing. Early on in my life, our family experienced church in a small, intercultural environment that...
However, I admit as a young child I hated church and religion. I felt as if it was being pushed on me in way that made me uncomfortable. It took me years to become comfortable in church. While my mother was heavily in the church she was very judgmental and everything that was ?worldly? was of the devil. My biggest fear about church and religion was being judged. So, early on my decision making was solely based on what I wanted and my need for immediate gratification. I must say that it never ended
Looking back on my childhood, I have many memories shrouded in fear and self-loathing. I was raised in the Baptist church. My mother and grandmother made sure that I attended church every Sunday morning. My grandmother was from the mid-west. She carried her strict Bible belt background with her as she traveled west with my grandfather. The many lessons I learned from my grandmother and the minister at our church played a big part in how I began to see the world and my place in it.
My family and I did many different things throughout the week together, but the most important family activity was going to church on Sunday mornings. I grew up in the First United Methodist Church in Monett, Missouri. I have participated in various mission trips and service days as a member of this church, and I regularly shared my talents through special music. Throughout all of the obstacles that my family has faced, my church family has been our rock in which they gave their thoughts and encouraging words in times of need. My faith is a huge part of who I am, and I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without the love and support of my church
As I stated before, I grew up in church. In fact, the church I attend today is the one my father started attending when he was only seven months old. I have strong familial ties to my church and that is ultimately where my faith began. I sometimes reminisce back to when my father would sing Amazing Grace with me and my mother would teach me Bible stories. Together, my parents were my Sunday School teachers from third to sixth grade. I loved going to church as a family: my sister, my parents, and myself included. My sister, two cousins, and I even formed a singing group at my church in honor of my grandmother, Minnie (we were called “The Minnie Maberrys”) Needless to say, my family has been an integral part of my faith. I have sought encouragement from them and the wisdom they have instilled in me will remain with me for a lifetime. Another crucial facet of the growing of my faith has been the Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization, or FCA for short.
Humans presently have always imagined time in correlation with the amount of years they spend on the earth. Therefore, within our fast paced culture, time has been considered applicable to our lives. Humans today spend more brain energy and thought processes wondering how to increase their time not only on earth but in daily activities. Based on this common trend, humans have become slaves to time and its requirements. On the west coast particularly, people feel like they must achieve the most they could with their lives under certain time frames. For example, dating, loans, education and even travel are all dictated by time. Time to humans has become a staple-point of our culture and decides how we embark daily and live our lives. It would
In contrast to the many people who obeyed society's rules and aspired to follow these standards,...
The limitation of this essay is that no survey has been conducted, and so further research could be done regarding significant issues in time management.