Trying different religions

Converting religions isn't easy. It does take a lot of discipline to change your way's when you have always known it to be one way since you were born. I was raised in a Catholic home. I did everything a Catholic was supposed to do: getting baptized as an infant, making my first holy communion, and finally my confirmation when I was older. I had volunteered as a confirmation teacher but while volunteering I had started to question my faith again. There was something missing, things didn't make any sense. But that wasn't the first time that I had questioned the religion I was growing up with.



When my mom passed away when I was 19, I had went back to ENMU to continue my higher education. A lot of things didn't make sense. I started to see things differently. I had thought maybe I wasn't going to church enough. So I had never missed Sunday service and attended every church service during the Catholic holidays. That, however, didn't satisfy my needs. I needed more. I had questions and I talked one on one with the priest and he gave some positive insight but the answers were not what I was looking for. I didn't even know what I was looking for at the time. I felt lost.

The head athletic trainer at ENMU at the time suggested that I try other religions. He set up a meeting with me and one of the softball players. She seemed to have been very involved in her own religion which I believe was Baptist. I met with her in the cafe and I opened up to her. She had no clue what was coming to her. I had mentioned to her how my mom had just recently passed away and how things didn't make any sense. She invited me to the bible study group they had formed in the basement in one of the dorm rooms. I started to go there and I took the time to listen to them, heard them sing and saw how involved they were in their religion. Somehow, I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't that involved.

I had also tried Mormon. I talked with my friend Jennifer and she invited me to go with her several times to her church services. When I found out they had more chapters to the Bible that's when the questions started coming out. How come the Mormon's have additional chapters in the Bible? Why didn't I know about this before? How was the book the Mormon's read was different from the Catholic or the Christians? Now I knew that there was other books. I never really knew that other religions had different books. Mormons were really nice people, very quiet and reserved. It was getting closer to what I had wanted but I didn't feel it was a fit for me.

I had left ENMU and came back home to be closer to my family. I felt it was a right decision at the time. We all needed each other. I had started going with one of my best friend Liz to the Potter House. I guess its Christian based. She thought maybe I can try that out and see how I felt. I attended it several times to give it a try. I didn't care too much for it. It just wasn't me. There was more to the singing that I was searching for. I didn't want to hear them shouting out the gospel. I wanted to hear it in a very calm and nice voice. The Christian faith was too loud for me. It just wasn't me.

I didn't know many religions, I never really study religion. So I took a class at CNM. What happened in that class was unbelievable! The professor was so involved in getting us to answer "who is God and how did he get here" that I started to find it offensive. I mean, who are we to question how God came about? So once again, I was in search for answers. I turned to my older brother who invited me to attend Bible study with his group of friends.

That was a more quiet group but they wanted to do this "talk in tongues" thing and I didn't understand what that was. Correct me if I'm wrong but the way I understood it was that prayers are heard if you talk in tongues. I had gotten "re-baptized" with that religion and they did it in a swimming pool which I thought was odd, I thought maybe a stream or lake would have been better. To them being baptized in a swimming pool was acceptable.

Then I found out that each Bible was different. The one I had had verses that newer versions didn't have. This version was different from that version and that version had a different interpretation of what this verse said. I didn't understand that if the word of God was the word of God then why is there so many versions? Everyone has their answers to that but I don't find any of those answers satisfying. Why would we change the word of God? Who gave us permission to do such a thing? I never really understood that. I gave up. I had no religion. I believed in God but no religion was giving me the answers I was looking for.

Then along comes my husband. My wonderful husband, oh how I love him, every time I think about him I just smile. I'm so blessed that he came into my life and he couldn't have came at a better time. We were dating for about 7 months before we decided to get married. While planning our wedding the religion question came about. He was Muslim and Islam was the religion. I never thought about Islam before. It was really foreign to me but then again, his culture was different from mine. Islam was the new religion I was going to learn about and I was on my way to become a Muslim.

One thing I learned is that every religion is the same but also very different. We shouldn't judge other peoples religion if we don't know anything about it. I had to go in with an open mind every time I tried a new religion, a new place of worship. I had to give it a fair chance. I didn't go in with a negative attitude or a defensive attitude. I went in and gave it a shot because I was looking for something new. Going in with an open mind is not easy. As you grow older you start getting set in your ways and you believe what you have been taught. Religion is not as easy as it seems.

BECOMING A MUSLIM....COMING SOON