This week’s assignment consists of you writing a two page personal reflection about your spiritual experience thus far. To complete the assignment you will format your paper using 12 point font, 1.5 spacing, with regular margins. You will turn in your reflection in the dropbox. Be sure to submit your finished work as a word document or pdf file as my computer may not recognize alternative formats. Below, I have included a series of questions to help aid you in writing your religion reflection. You do not have to answer all of these questions, but should use them as writing prompts if you get stuck along the way. Also, if you do not consider yourself a religious or spiritual person in any sense, then your reflection can be about why you have chosen an alternative path instead. In the first paragraph, describe which spiritual tradition has had the most influence over your personal decision making and understanding of the world. Where did you first encounter this spiritual tradition? At what age did you begin to take spiritual teachings seriously and why?
Coming to the middle paragraph, describe how your spiritual tradition influences your daily life right now. How does it help you to interpret your everyday life? Are there any spiritual practices that you favor over others (e.g. contemplation/prayer, scripture study, helping others in need, simplicity, etc.)? Are there any spiritual practices that you would like to incorporate more into your daily practice?
Ending with the last paragraph, consider how alternative spiritual traditions (e.g. Buddhism, Islam) may enhance your own spiritual practice. Alternatively, consider how allowing other traditions into your life may destabilize your own current practice. Lastly, give an argument as to whether you think it is a good or bad idea to study other religious expressions and to allow them influence within your life.