By Jane Lucas
The role that religion plays in our lives can be ever-shifting. Those who have a deep connection to their faith also tend to have a deeply personal one with it, meaning that the things that bind them so close to their beliefs may be circumstances that couldn’t apply to anyone else, or at least most people. However, you may find that, due to a crisis, a lack of direction, or a simple yearning to be closer to the core of your faith, that you want to build a closer connection between you and your belief system. Here are a few directions that may help you in doing that.
If you feel like you don’t have as much of an understanding or connection with your beliefs as you would like, one of the best ways to deepen that is to get to the source of it all. For Christians, this means sitting down with the Bible and starting to read some passages. Archaic as it is, things can be difficult to understand on a first reading, which is why worship is important. People who are trained to interpret the words help us understand the historical contexts and practical applications. There are plenty of Bible study sites that can help you do the same outside of the church.
The creative arts are also a philosophical engagement, meaning that there are ways to view both modern culture and the classics through a range of analytical lenses that can help you get a better understanding of how certain works relate to specific ideas. For instance, there are academics who specialize in looking at things through a feminist lens or a psychoanalytic lens, but you can do this with religion, too. Looking at the spiritual significance of media, from the latest Marvel movies to some of the religious writings of Shakespeare, can help you build your belief into a framework from which you can study the world, while also helping you see the spiritual undercurrents that are always there in society through its artistic works, even when they are seemingly 'without religion'.
Some people believe intuitively, or 'with their body', others in their heart, and others in their head. It is often the people in the last category who can have difficulty forging what feels like a strong emotional connection with their faith. This doesn’t mean that their faith isn’t true, but simply that they have to grapple with things mentally first before they can really feel a strong connection with it. To those people, looking for a religious education can help them gain the intellectual understanding of religion that makes their faith much more intimate and more easily understood by them.
Work in your faithGetting a degree in religion doesn’t have to be a purely self-serving investment of your time, either. There are plenty of careers that can be made from it, not least including those careers that put your faith at the focus of your work. For instance, there are Christian counseling degrees that will involve using that faith to help people in your ministry or parish. You can use that faith as a means to directly helpl people who are struggling with poverty, marital problems, mental health issues, and even issues like addiction. Seeing that your own application of faith can help others can also play a big role in bolstering your own beliefs.
Just as some people believe with their head, from an intellectual standpoint, some people believe intuitively, and grow in that by doing a little work every day in dedication to their religious foundation. You can make helping others a big part of your career to make sure that, in some way, you are living out your dedication to the ethics and morals taught by your faith every single day. However, it doesn’t necessarily need to be something you get paid for. If you have a career that you are perfectly happy in, great. But there are also ways to volunteer in this realm, with charities and nonprofits that are in your area. There may be some that work directly with the religious organization that you worship with. Helping those in need and providing charity is a key tenant of all manner of denominations.
We have talked about those who believe intuitively, and those who believe more from their mind. But what about those that believe with their heart? This strong emotional connection with your faith can be a hard thing to develop independently since many people discover it through persevering through hard circumstances with faith as their shield. By working to become a more active member of your religious community, you can start to believe with your heart by forming strong connections with others who try to live a faith-based life, whether it’s getting involved in running community events with your ministry members, or even helping those who are keeping the ministry going in organizing their efforts and resources.
If you want to, there is always the option of dedicating yourself, your efforts, and your time, to the church itself. Becoming a minister, a pastor, a priest, or whatever form of religious leadder your denomination accepts is a huge undertaking, there’s no denying that. However, in doing so, you will learn much more about the religion you have been following, as well as finding out how to actively advance God’s kingdom in your teachings and how you orient the community around religion. It’s not a step to be taken lightly, by any means, but to those who take it, it can be the most fulfilling decision you may ever make.
Which path helps you connect better to your faith and to establish a firmer idea of what it means to believe is up to you. Different people respond to different things, but the suggestions above can help you find that path.
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