Tuesday, June 18, 2013

More Post-Honduran thoughts- Spirituality

A post I wrote in 2010 that I finally decided to publish 3 years later...it reflects upon a lot of the emotions I've been dealing with right now.

It's almost comical to think that I hadn't blogged in so long. Ever since I made my posting on Sunday after 8 months of negligance; I am finally coming up with the words to say to express everything that I have been processing since my return to the States. My personal journey in Honduras was SO intense; that I think it has honestly taken me this long to be able to talk about certain aspects of it and what I learned from them openly.


Of course; so much of my experience in Honduras was personal. I had a list of reasons a mile long for wanting to spend a portion of my life there; but certain aspects were more personal than others. Developing an appreciation for all that I have in my life was clearly a large part of my wanting to go. Equally as important was my desire to learn about, understand, and appreciate another culture. These were topics I was able to openly blog about during my time abroad.


Spirituality and my own personal spiritual journey is a totally different story. I never really blogged much about the religious aspect of my time in Honduras for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost; I have always found religion and spirituality to be a very personal thing. (Meaning that I honestly don't believe there are any two people on this earth who have the same exact set of beliefs and ideals). I also respected (and still do respect) the fact that I was volunteering with a Catholic organization; and made every effort to tailor my stories in a way that did not disrespect, question, or minimize any aspect of the Catholic church's belief system. I know the vast majority of my readers identify as Catholic; and I know that reaching out to them through my stories from a Catholic standpoint would be most effective. Upon my return though; I am realizing that this is my blog and my territory to state how I feel about topics in relation to my mission experience. Essentially this is a disclaimer: anything that I say is not meant to offend anyone or their beliefs. It is simply the way that I feel as an individual after having spent a year in a third world country, processing the experience, and relating to life here in the States.


Religion and faith in general is of the utmost importance to the people of Honduras. I have never seen such a beautiful display of love, hope, and pure faith than I did on a daily basis while in Juticalpa. For anyone who has never visited a developing country (and especially Juticalpa), there is no way even the most talented writer could accurately portray just how intense this authentic display of faith is. I found the simplicity of daily life there able to fill Honduras' people with a deep appreciation for the very little that they had. I also feel as though the mere fact that they did have so little allowed them to actually put into practice the most simple and universal values that ANY of Christian religion is supposedly supposed to be representative of: unconditional love and the "golden rule" ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"). With little more to support them through the difficulties of daily life other than faith and one another; I feel as though their belief in their church was genuine Although I personally am not a big proponent of organized religion at all (first public confession!), it was undoubtedly the most positive experience I have ever had with any particular religious group; because I feel as though these beautiful people genuinely practiced what they preached.   That to me, is what it is all about. (Whether you believe in it or not)

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