A way of life
Being Catholic is my way of life but going to church is not. I'm catholic because I believe in the values catholics believe in and I think they help me in life. I don't go to church to be a catholic but I go there to learn, and learning good values is being catholic to me. This is achievable with other religions I believe, but I was brought up exposed to my own religion and it is the easiest for me to have faith in.
I don't need church activities to help me make friends. My friends are in school and in my CCAs and in the other activities I take part in. And more importantly I don't need the church to help me understand how to love my family. I would rather spend that time with my family. Furthermore, learning is the easy part, the effort is much harder especially when one has not put in much effort before.
Church can be a place to make friends but it should not take away valuable time one needs to spend with one's family. When that balance between friends and family falls on the friends side, there needs to be some reflection done because family should almost always come first ("almost" because I have to admit some families are terrible. But we have to really know how terrible is terrible because some situations arise from misunderstandings and not due to horrible people). Blood is thicker than water. I am a friend of others and I believe I should be of less importance to others as compared to others' families.
Lastly, don't ask me to make donations. AND don't try to make me feel bad when I don't make donations. Money has different values to different people and one should be given the chance to determine the value it holds. I do enjoy a better standard of living as compared to others in the 3rd world countries and even in my own country but I also have my dreams which require that money. These dreams hold more significance compared to helping the needy financially, and most definitely more than helping a church expand its space. Each to his own speciality; I'm not a rich person thus I will help others in my own possible way, while the rich can donate their excesses.
On the other hand, if a church is able to make others help the needy as much as possible, it would have succeeded. A church is a place of education, a place where mindsets are changed for the better such that everyone understands their responsibility in this society. Education is thus so powerful as our mindsets ensure that we do not shirk our responsibilities, such as those to save the environment. It is even more powerful than the laws of justice because we hardly think of these laws when such responsibilities come into place (unless you're a corporation that pollutes a nearby river), and even when such laws are in place yet we do not feel we need to have such responsibilities, we won't feel guilty when we disregard our responsibilities.
CHC goers, if you'd like to donate to your church, by all means. But make sure they are excesses because that money could have saved someone else from starvation, or from illness. Or at least make sure they can change one's mindset about their own responsibilities for the better, such that they go out to help others or help the environment. So what if your sins are atoned? Make good use of God's forgiveness and go out to help others. That is when you truly forgive yourself for what Man has done. God's forgiveness is the first step, your own forgiveness is the next. Don't China wine me.
I don't need church activities to help me make friends. My friends are in school and in my CCAs and in the other activities I take part in. And more importantly I don't need the church to help me understand how to love my family. I would rather spend that time with my family. Furthermore, learning is the easy part, the effort is much harder especially when one has not put in much effort before.
Church can be a place to make friends but it should not take away valuable time one needs to spend with one's family. When that balance between friends and family falls on the friends side, there needs to be some reflection done because family should almost always come first ("almost" because I have to admit some families are terrible. But we have to really know how terrible is terrible because some situations arise from misunderstandings and not due to horrible people). Blood is thicker than water. I am a friend of others and I believe I should be of less importance to others as compared to others' families.
Lastly, don't ask me to make donations. AND don't try to make me feel bad when I don't make donations. Money has different values to different people and one should be given the chance to determine the value it holds. I do enjoy a better standard of living as compared to others in the 3rd world countries and even in my own country but I also have my dreams which require that money. These dreams hold more significance compared to helping the needy financially, and most definitely more than helping a church expand its space. Each to his own speciality; I'm not a rich person thus I will help others in my own possible way, while the rich can donate their excesses.
On the other hand, if a church is able to make others help the needy as much as possible, it would have succeeded. A church is a place of education, a place where mindsets are changed for the better such that everyone understands their responsibility in this society. Education is thus so powerful as our mindsets ensure that we do not shirk our responsibilities, such as those to save the environment. It is even more powerful than the laws of justice because we hardly think of these laws when such responsibilities come into place (unless you're a corporation that pollutes a nearby river), and even when such laws are in place yet we do not feel we need to have such responsibilities, we won't feel guilty when we disregard our responsibilities.
CHC goers, if you'd like to donate to your church, by all means. But make sure they are excesses because that money could have saved someone else from starvation, or from illness. Or at least make sure they can change one's mindset about their own responsibilities for the better, such that they go out to help others or help the environment. So what if your sins are atoned? Make good use of God's forgiveness and go out to help others. That is when you truly forgive yourself for what Man has done. God's forgiveness is the first step, your own forgiveness is the next. Don't China wine me.
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