How will I know when I’ve found the faith or belief system that’s right for me?

People grow into their faith

Jolinda Matthews, administrative assistant at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Drive; also serves on the National Council of Churches USA for the Episcopal Church:

The other night at a dinner party a friend said, “I could be a Buddhist, but I like my stuff too much.”

My husband thinks he could be a Muslim, but he is not too sure about fasting during the monthlong Ramadan observance.

These examples of the “not quite right fit” seem to happen often in the discussion of religion.

In the increasingly pluralistic society that we live in, it may seem like the choices for a faith are limitless. How will you know when you have found the right faith or belief system that’s right for you?

I answer this question not with a set of rules but rather with a series of insights.

For me, faith is a way of making sense out of the world through the study of sacred text and performance of ritual.

When you are praying or worshipping, you should feel that you are communing with the holy. When you gather with others who practice your faith, it should seem like an episode of the TV show “Cheers” — where everybody knows your name, they’re always glad you came and where you can see our troubles and celebrations are all the same.

When you study and read the sacred text, you feel transformed as well as connected to those who have gone before you. Your mother might not be happy with your choice of beliefs, but she will be happy you committed to something.

Your faith is something that you grow into, with, and through. Your faith is something that you can share with others in a respectful way. And you may end up right where you started from.

One must feel a sense of authentic belief in the system, and that through this system you can reflect on your life and the world.

Send e-mail to Jolinda Matthews at ecmku@raven.cc.ku.edu.

Relief of anxieties sign of ‘knowing when’

Steve Ritz, a Baldwin resident, is a practicing devotee of Krishna Consciousness:

The question put forth contains a lot of “I” and “me.” And it may just be that this selfish perspective is part of the very disease from which we all suffer: ignorance of our essential nature as parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

“What’s right for me” may not be a whimsically obtained commodity. It may be an eternal principle which would begin to answer such questions as “Who am I?” and “Why do I suffer?”

It may not be so much something to find as something to remember. And a symptom of “knowing when” may be simply relief from anxieties, becoming peaceful, satisfied.

The Bhagavad-Gita, one of the fundamental texts of Hindu faith, describes that the living being (the self) is more than just a temporary body — it is eternal spirit and indestructible. And the dharma of the soul (the sustenance of existence) is to coordinate its activities with its eternal relationship with God, Krishna, Supreme Lord.

It is further stated that the “(dharma) for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated (not selfish) and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self (the soul).”

The Vedic system offers this shelter of remembrance of our true nature. It reveals that it’s not so much about suiting ourselves. Instead, it’s about becoming suitable for these eternal qualities to be revealed to us by the Lord’s pure devotees “with the help of scriptural evidence, theistic conduct, and perseverance in practice.”

This self-realization “is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.”

Send e-mail to Steve Ritz at sritz@glpma.com.