Today 's Growing Culture : An Explanation For The Existence Of Life

Spirituality is about what do we live for and what keeps us alive. It is combined with the soul, spirit and mind. When we go into deeper, we feel from unnecessary things attached. It gives a greater inner security and peace that cannot be compared. As the practice goes on we will feel a change in our life’s slowly, more self-centered, less needy of possessions and social status and inner happiness.

Statistics show that anywhere from 40%-80% of high school Christians abandon their faith within their first year of college. This is a huge problem that needs to be fixed. The youth of today and tomorrow need strong Christian leaders who are able to fortify their faith before moving away into the real world. There are three key factors that lead to this high percentage: Students are unprepared, they are in a more hostile environment, and our natural inclination to sin and fall away from God to pursue our own worldly passions. Students, who cannot effectively defend their faith, are going into a more hostile environment with less Christians and are being offered alternative world views that allow them to follow their own desires. We can’t do a lot to change their environment or human nature, but we can build up young Christians.

Spirituality has a unique definition for every individual. As for myself, my spirituality is the path to my eternal life through my savior Jesus Christ. As a follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, the church has taught me the way of life and how to constantly mend myself toward the right path while serving others. To begin with, the country I grew up in, Ethiopia is truly a combination of the two worlds because it is the first country to accept Christianity and Islam before even the Europeans did. What differs the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the replica of the Ark of the Covenant we have in every church. The ark of the covenant, or as called by us Ethiopians Tabot, is where the stones in which the Ten Commandments are written

Their beliefs and understandings of faith are being challenged and questioned in order to strengthen their understanding. Rather than having the adults in their life tell them what to believe, they are now responsible for forming opinions about everything in their lives. For this reason, it is vital that students stay connected to God during their college years. If they are not firmly grounded in truth, the controversial ideology that college courses may bring will easily sway them. If a spiritual foundation is not there, a student will face a “spiritual struggle: an experience with which many students are familiar, particularly those who concern themselves with deep reflection on faith, purpose, and life

Spirituality does not have one definite definition, it varies depending on who is searching for the meaning. The meaning of spirituality can change within one person, the more they search for answers and find their beliefs. To this writer, spirituality reaches beyond ourselves, it is the connection between ourselves and something greater.

Spirituality is defined as “of relating to sacred matters”. To many people this has different meanings. In the traditional modernistic western, this can be defined as being sacred to Christianity. In the Christian approach one is believed to be spiritual if they attend church and pray to Jesus and abide by the rules set by the bible. It is a sin to go against the bible and doing so leads to a consequence of praying for forgiveness to Jesus in hope for your eternal salvation of your soul. But to many, this type of church does not exist. To native-Americans, spirituality is defined as something more powerful than the church, stories and rituals is what takes part in fighting

“The most important factor in whether young people leave the church or remain steadfast in their faith is whether they have a safe haven to express their doubts and concerns regarding their faith before leaving home. Such a refuge is found in two places: their home and their church youth ministry” ("Why Are So Many Young People Falling Away from the Faith?"). Young people in today’s culture are constantly judged by the people around them. To fit in many push away from their faith to seem “cooler” to their peers. The younger generations don’t develop a grounded relationship with their faith and have fewer and fewer people to guide them.

Spirituality is defined in several ways as it pertains to different worldviews. Today we will look at the worldview as it relates to Pluralism, Scientism and Postmodernism.

Spirituality and religion hold different values and truths depending on your personal beliefs. Being religious is a belief or practice that contains certain values one should follow. When looking deeper into religion you can find spirituality which is the part of religion that effects our spirit and soul, it is not tangible. “The Sacred within” is spirituality and pertains to God dwelling inside of our heart and soul. When looking at “the sacred within” there are certain senses that we can tap into so, we may obtain that sort of spirituality. Through solitude, silence, imagination, and nature, we can have a better sense of spirituality.

Spirituality is defined by the Merriam-Webster (2015) dictionary as “the quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters.” That is the simple definition of it from a dictionary. In depth, spirituality is defined as a person’s beliefs, attitudes, values and connection

Educators need to understand the impact of religion on the lives of their students. According to Gallup poll data, nearly 95% of teens believe in God and 86% believe that Jesus Christ is either God or the Son of God (Gallup & Lindsay, 1999 as cited in Ream, 2003). These and other similar statistics demonstrate the importance of considering religion when dealing with young people. Ream

Br. Gerard Rummery, a Lasallian academic said that the word ‘spirituality’ was only coined in French during the early 17th century to distinguish the paths by Christian men and women. Simply type ‘spirituality’ on a search engine and this will show you the definition of the word. One of it defined by Merriam-Webster; the quality of state of being concerned with religion or religious matters. In Christian spirituality, like the one’s Rummery mentioned: ‘Jesuit spirituality’, ‘Carmelite spirituality’ and ‘Franciscan spirituality’, these have similarities but they also have their own differences. This is the same with Lasalian spirituality it has its difference with other Christian spirituality.

What is spirituality? Everyone has it however not all understand what it is exactly. Individuals can experience and express spiritually differently. It can be confused with religion or ghosts (Lepherd, 2015). For many years, there have been many definitions and descriptions of spirituality; it is described as the search of the meaning of life, alleviation of suffering, or creating inner peace in an individual. Which explains how spirituality is made useful for meditation and practicing yoga. Each person’s spirituality is different from others because according to his article, ‘Spirituality: Everyone has it, but what is it,’ Laurence Lepherd (2015) explains, “People have [different levels] of depth or intensity of spirituality, from [person to person].”

What is spirituality? And is it only related to religion? It is hard to answer these questions as there are a lot of definitions of spirituality and what is it related to. For some people, spirituality has no meaning outside the circle of the religion. On the other hand, some people say that spirituality can exist inside the religion and also outside the religion. People should stop relating spirituality to only religion. Instead, people should know the true meaning of spirituality outside the circle of the religion as it will open doors for knowledge and have a butter understanding and better life. In the United States, religion is frequently equated with spirituality or a personal relationship with God

In this essay, I am going to discuss religious education under various topic headings including R.E and the R.E teacher, World Religions and morality and ethics. Through attending lectures and seminars, I have learned a lot about the Religious Education system in Ireland and further afield. Furthermore, in my reflective journal, I have reflected on a world of possibilities of what religion means to me. Throughout the year, my opinions on certain topics has changed, or has strengthen and I feel the reflective journal has helped me. In the essay, I am hoping to include reflections, readings and my experiences from the lectures and seminars to discover the various of topics.