The Spiritual Autobiography And Theater Classes

Christianity played a significant role in my life up until lower school. I would go to church with my Dad every Sunday morning to help set up, which is how we became close. I fondly remember how he instilled that with a close relationship to God, you could get through anything. I took what he said to heart, said my prayers before bed and meals, and read my bible. I always dreamed of going to Heaven and spending eternity with my family. As the only religion that I had ever known, I thought everyone else also believed in Christianity. I never questioned any of it until elementary school.

As a child, I grew up going to Catholic School, from Kindergarten, until eighth grade. My mother thought private school was best for my brother and I, as there’s a misconception that since you’re paying a tuition, the education is better. My mother was also Catholic at the time, so she was more comfortable with us growing up being taught religion, which should inevitably cause us to be Christians and believe in God. Years went by of me being educated on religion, and by the age of twelve, I felt guilty that I couldn’t process or accept the idea of there being a God. I came to this reality due to the fact that I didn’t feel the connection to God that our teachers taught us we should have; I didn’t feel loved by an alternate being, I felt alone, and I didn’t grasp how such a thing could be possible.

To say my faith life has been completely revamped in the last year would be an understatement. I had views and ideas about faith that seem somewhat vile to me know with the experiences I’ve had. From just lectures to the retreats my spiritual side has gone from that of a holiday catholic to a Campus Ministry Student. From little things to big ethic topics I’ve changed in a multitude of ways, my Spiritual Autobiography looks like looks like someone else wrote it compared to any year before it. I think faith is one of the most important aspects of our life and it took me until last year to realize it.

I grew up going to Church with family and friends until I was around the age of 8 when my parents just stopped going as much and eventually it came to a halt. I honestly don’t believe that I really knew anything about God besides that I believed in him because my parents did. As I grew older and got involved in heavy drinking to a point of no self-control and doing things I would regret when sober I began to hate myself with a deep passion. I didn’t know why I would do the things I did and continue to make the same mistakes even after I felt the gut wrenching feeling the following day. It was when I was older that I found out about a friend of the family molesting me as a child and everything just made more sense as to why I was so overly sexual and

My Christian liberal arts education is a major factor in establishing my current vocation. As a junior at Wheaton College, my current vocation is to be a student. I feel called to give my best effort at everything I do, and every assignment I work on. In reading C.S. Lewis’s essay on “Learning During War Time”, I was encouraged by his explanation of how the pursuit of knowledge, and my vocation of being a student, are worthwhile and valuable, no matter the circumstances surrounding us (Lewis, p.43-45). Going to a Christian liberal arts school definitely influences my current vocation. By learning about many subjects by taking a well-rounded course schedule of classes, I can learn to appreciate a variety of subjects and understand more about

Growing up I was always told religion was false and that I was above my friends who were Christians because I believed in science. My mom was raised by Catholics, but when she graduated High School, she vowed to never be religious again. My father enjoyed feeling more elite over the “religious plebeians” that worked for him. I remember having an argument with Victoria Henderson in 3rd grade because I believed in The Big Bang and she was a creationist. Everyone took Victoria’s side, and I learned it was better to just not talk about religion. In high school, I began reaching out of my comfort zone, and also questioning what my parents had ingrained on me as a person. My first religious experience was dating a boy named Luis who was Catholic, as my mother was raised. He was only allowed to date Catholic girls, so I

Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I have searched and searched for a talent that would give me a unique identity to make me stand out from my peers. When I was five years old, I was given the chance to be in a musical in our city's community theatre, PMT. This musical was "The Wizard of Oz", and I played the role of a munchkin in the Lollipop Guild. This initially sparked a great interest in theatre, and I fell in love with acting. I had an amazing mentor for my youth acting career, the late Jack Ewing. He played Harold Hill in PMT's production of "The Music Man", while I had the opportunity to play the role of Winthrop, the young boy that helps Harold Hill become a better person. (Jack later died a year before I had the chance to play the role of Harold Hill in my high school's production of "The Music Man Jr.") When I was about nine, PMT dissolved as an organization and therefore there was no community theatre around me for years, which put a setback in my interest and talent for theatre.

My name is Jessica Thomas and I was born and raised in Oklahoma City. My parents were born in India but as soon as they got married they moved to America with their siblings. I grew up in a Christian home so my faith in God has always been a big part of my life because it has always been a big part of my families lives. About two years ago my cousin Jency lent me her book called Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. This book touched me in a very profound way. It is a novel about a little girl who was sold into prostitution by her uncle but was bought by a very good hearted Christian man when she was an adult. Once he bought her he married her because that is what God told him to do. He loved her unconditionally and tries to show her the love

In going with the definition of how to construct the spiritual autobiography, I would start with the events, the people and the places that influenced the relationship with God or a higher being. According to Knight, those who were raised in a religious home their journey starts at birth and grows through age. (Knight, 2011) Parents who teach their children about God and who pray with them and worship with them have a close relationship with their God. Knight also states that should you find God later in life you may attribute that to a person or an event in your life. I would encourage someone to write down the people, places and events that influenced their religious journey and how that journey has brought them to the place in their life that they are today. For me personally, God fills my life and has provided me with Christian parents and four brothers and sisters who are also Christians. I would help someone write their autobiography by asking a lot of questions and writing their responses. It would be interesting to find out if, in their family they had the freedom to choose their own beliefs or if they were coerced into being what everyone else is. For instance, if I were interviewing someone from another country, there may be cultural differences in how each family practices their religion and going outside of that may be troublesome. Teachers and pastors as well as family all have a role to play in our lives and our beliefs, so do, the places we go such as

My story begins, at least as far as I can remember, from the moment I stepped into my private school kindergarten classroom and was taught my morning prayers. I was taught to thank a ‘man in the sky’ for my family and food, to ask Him for anything and everything I wanted, and to learn from this book that He had other people right for Him. The following eight years went pretty similarly. I learned a lot more about this being called God. I was taught He died for everybody and gave us Heaven. Additionally, that we had to be good and not sin in order to make it to this said Heaven. I learned that certain people are blessed by God and devote their whole lives to Him. I memorized verse after verse and read many Christian based books in order to teach

My parents divorced when I was five, so I was raised in a single parent home by my mother. My aunt and mother both instilled in me what it means to be a strong, independent, God fearing woman. From the time I was born I attended church regularly, praise dancing and singing in the choir. Being able to touch someone while ministering the word of God is one of the greatest privliges I’ve had.

As early as I can remember, I always excelled in my classes. I felt like at the time I was without a doubt an above average student. I often recall my instructor Mrs. Shek from third-grade saying, “Wow you are smart Jonathan”. Even my fourth-grade instructor Mr. William’s would often write comments on my essays like “Good job you outdid yourself”. My self-esteem skyrocketed early on, confident in my ability to excel; I felt I was ready to take on the world. My teacher’s comments had reminded me of a quote from an article I read called, “Brainology” by Carol S. Dweck. Dweck stated “In the 1990’s, parents and schools decided that the most important thing for kids to have was self-esteem.” (2) Its said that if we felt good about ourselves, we would be set. Little was known of the consequences of

I grew up in a Catholic home. From my earliest memories, I believed in God and knew He existed. Every week we faithfully attended our local parish. There was no Sunday School so we sat with our parents during mass. I remember my youngest sister, Jennifer, playing with my Dad’s keys

Ever since I remember myself I have been the child who would get up on a chair in a room full of guests, and sing a song, or make a congratulatory speech. Throughout the years in primary and secondary school, I have always been on the first row. I was that student with perfect grades whose work everyone hoped to cheat off. Since early childhood, relatives would point at me telling their kids, “Why are not you more like her?” My pedestal has been raised higher than I have ever comfortable being. The pressure to perform is very high. When you have a reputation for being smart, many people assume that you can solve any problems that comes up and tackles every challenging obstacle in life. And my parents think so too.

My parents raised my brothers and I in a Catholic household. Throughout our childhoods, they instilled in us at an early age the importance of honesty, kindness, forgiveness, and love. However, these lessons usually related back to God. Due to our faith, my family would go to church, say grace before our meals, and pray every night. Despite this upbringing, doubt still festered in my mind. At the age of 13, I began to question my faith. A year later, the questions that led to myself choosing to not be Catholic changed my outlook on the morals of myself and others, death, and my attitude about life.