Every Thursday night at 8pm a religious organization called Real Life: Campus Crusade for Christ at OSU meets at Independence Hall to have their weekly meeting. Every Thursday a group between 300 and 500 people gather to learn more about their belief in God. There are people gathered on stage and they hold a sort of church like gathering in which they have the audience join in with songs. There is a live band at the gathering which encourages attendees to join in with the rest of the congregation. When I chose to attend this gathering I was not specifically agreeing with their views and I was not exactly against them either. The Real Life organization believes that God has a brilliant plan for all of us and we can discover that plan through reading the Bible. They believe that yes, people are all sinful, but that is why God created each an every one of us and without sin our lives would be uneventful. They explain that you get to know God through Jesus Christ--the one who died for our sin--and once you recieve Jesus into your life, you will personally experience God's love and his plan.
Just a couple of days ago a Real Life member came into my room and asked if I would participate in a survey called Soularium. To me this just seemed like a normal survey that I would partake in but to my surprise it concerned my religious beliefs and awareness. For this survey, the Real Life member, Lauren, presented me with about a hundred different post cards with different pictures on each. Once I laid them all out across the floor of my dorm room, she began to ask me different questions. For example, she asked me to pick out three pictures that described my life and explain them to her. Another question was to pick out three cards that described my relationship with God and three that showed what I wish my relationship with God would be. Once I completed the survey, Lauren explained to me how she found God--which was her personal testimony she shared with me. She explained first how God has a plan for all of us, second how there is a problem we are all presented with, third how God has a solution for those problems, and fourth how it is up to us to make a decision about our relationship with God. Although this Real Life member was not trying to persuade me to act upon my experience, or lack there of, with God, she was definitely an activist for this particular religion. She and the Real Life service raised my awareness about my relationship with God and definitely attempted to persuade me to act upon it. At the end of the survey I was given a card with my answers and a website I could visit to see how other college students were answering the same questions. This strategy encouraged me even further to question my religious standing and persuaded me to follow their lead.
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Kenzi-
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in attending these meetings! It sounds like a lot of fun and a sort of uplifting experience. I really liked what you got out of the meeting, such as, "they believe that yes, people are all sinful, but that is why God created each an every one of us and without sin our lives would be uneventful." Unfortunately I feel like sometimes religion is lost when students go to college being caught up in a new place and it is great to see there are such organizations that hope to solidify religious views! I also believe it is really nice that a member of Real Life came to your room to speak with you one on one. That must have been an awesome experience!!
Mary Beth
It sounds like a good experience. It seems like their "no pressure" approach was effective as well as their one on one discussions. The direct experience and interactions with a member of the group must have been a good experience. By getting to know a member you may have got a feel of what there organization is all about. They got you thinking about your life and relationship with God. The overall experience that you describe seems to be convincing and helpful.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great place. I have heard of it before, but I have never gone to a meeting. It definitely sounds interesting. The survey you did with the post cards sounds really cool too!
ReplyDeleteKenzi,
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to say that I really liked the way you wrote this. Even though you weren't in exact agreement with what Lauren had to say, you didn't just throw away her beliefs either. I appreciate that you took the time to listen and participate in what she had to offer. It seems like it would have been a good way to look at religion and God from a new perspective. As I was reading your blog, I too began to think about God in my life. Thanks for your words Kenzi! :)