Blog Profile

     When searching for some similar blogs to mine, I found one about faith reflections. Fortunately, it was not too hard to find considering the name of the blog is Faith Reflections and the subject is about religion and faith. The author is David J Claassen and he blogs about spiritual issues. In his introduction he states that he “seeks to give spiritual leadership to a group of people called the Mayfair-Plymouth Congregational Church.” The church is in Toledo. The blogger posts quite frequently, mostly every other day. Unfortunately, I don’t think this blog is too popular because on the most recent posts there is no comments or very little. One reason as to why this may happen is because the blogger comes from a very smaller town and since this is a faith based blog, not many readers are interested or aware of it. I feel that this blog is interesting however; mine will not solely be about preaching religion. Instead it will be about my daily life, it can relate to others and I can explain to my readers from my perspective of what it means to have faith and what I see that gives me faith.
     One interesting post that I read of his, was one of the most recent ones entitled Grounded in the Ordinary in this post he talks about the different things we can do to have a therapeutic feeling. He mentioned President Barack Obama and how he plays basketball with his daughters as a way to keep him grounded. I think that this was a really good insight and a good comparison. Another interesting post I read of his was one entitled Detours of Life in this post, he describes a quote about detours and how oftentimes it’s so easy to get annoyed by detours rather than see the beauty of it which could also be related to life. I also want to be able to talk about the detours I encounter in my blogs and what about them makes my faith weaker or stronger.
     This blog relates to my work rather well because not only does the blogger speak about religious issues, he also finds ways to relate them to reality. Although his blog was really well written, I feel like I want to have my own personal voice shine through by using whatever mood I am in, whether that be happy, sad or sarcastic.
     The blog could be considered somewhat academic just because he also mentions other issues and media context that relates to what he is trying to say. His posts are rather simple and not too long. It definitely could be a little more detailed without having to be extra long. But his posts do vary so I guess it just depends on the subject matter of each post. The audience in which he is trying to address is spiritual people who have some sort of religious faith, although it is not specified what religion he is. The blog is completely relevant to a spiritual audience because of the context in which he addresses issues, all of which are faith reflections. This blog may feed my work because it could bring up an issue I may want to talk about or relate to something that I have discussed in my posts in relation to spiritual faith and why I do or do not have it.
     My site will differ because it will be more personal and through my daily experiences. This blog takes on an issue and then discusses it, but I want to talk about my perspective and also have my voice come out through it. I want to be able to convey my emotions about the issue I am discussing and have a more light hearted discussion rather than a preachy one.

Hello, World.

God. Who is He? Let alone, why should we even care? There are many tragedies that occur in our world today, in the past, and many that will happen in the future that it’s hard for many to say that God even exists. Growing up in Catholic school from the age of three up until my sophomore year in college at the age of nineteen, I was groomed to believe that God inevitably exists. It may have been with the help of the nuns that used to teach me the sign of the cross and how to pray or the academic professors I have had in classes, but I certainly do believe in God. Having faith in God is something I struggle with at times, but at the end of the day I believe in Him.

I’m not going to preach to you on why I think you should have faith in God, instead I’m blogging for myself, so that I can understand why I do. In my everyday life, there is something I will encounter that will support my beliefs or threaten them, but it is up to me to come to the conclusion of that and why that happens.

There are many things that happen to each one of us that can oftentimes cause people to lose faith if they once had it. In the news, you hear of murders and the worst possible crimes, so it’s understandable when people doubt that there could be a God. I, myself have experienced many deaths of family members and friends, heartbreak, and other tragedies, so why is it that I still have faith? Let it be known it does not come easy, there are times when I have doubts, but ultimately I get back on track. What is it that even helps me get back on track? Well that is what I am going to find out. In my regular days of being a college student and having struggles, what do I see in the world around me that gives me faith? It may be the tiniest thing such as a hug from someone when I’m secretly hurting inside, or something bigger such as the work of people coming together for those in need, like the help many are trying to give for those in Haiti right now.

I also might encounter days when there is just too many bad things happening that causes me to have a little doubt. It’s my experiences with my faith, how it can grow and what happens if it doesn’t. It’s up to me to figure it out and to take you along for the ride.

So, hello world. Come see through my perspective and my experiences on what it means to have faith. My everyday life shines light to help me gain new ideas and perspectives on faith. What I experience will either help strengthen it or it may weaken it, but ultimately there is something that is learned. Maybe it just might help others see things a different way too.