my religion

I’ve been taking a class this quarter called American Denominations. I’ve always been quite fascinated by other beliefs, so as hard as this class is, I absolutely love it. One thing I’ve begun to realize while taking this class is that I have taken beliefs from other religions and incorporated it into my own, while still retaining my own religion. Over the weekend, I had a conversation with Tim and Jon about the difference between our community and our beliefs, and as complicated as it is for me to understand, it makes so much sense. Adventism is my community – I grew up Adventist, I go to church on Saturday, I am vegetarian, I have all these understandings that make me apart of this community. And then, there are my absolute beliefs, which most likely are different from everyone else’s. There are the Adventist beliefs that I strongly hold onto – Sabbath, 2nd Coming, Jesus Christ, etc. But, I realized I am very Pentecostal in some ways. I have a very spiritualist view of life, and find spiritualism to be a very powerful thing. I also find the Native American belief that God is in everything to be quite beautiful… although, this is a little more confusing, but I do see the divine in everything, I just don’t worship the thing itself. I love meditation, and sometimes find myself having Hindu beliefs as well. I am at that stage in my life where I am trying to find what fits for me, and right now, I find so much beauty in all religions. I want to intake everything. I believe you can take so many things from different religions and incorporate it into your life to be closer to God. I don’t think that there is one true correct way to worship God. I enjoy many forms of worship. If it brings me closer to my God, how in the world could it be wrong?? It’s not. That’s what is so beautiful about God.