RELIGION
Yesterday,
I spent my last Sunday in Cape Town doing something unexpected: going to
church. I go to church with my family when I’m home, but I never make an effort
to go when I’m at school or since I’ve been here. However, I had wanted to
check out St. George’s Cathedral for a while, and so I attended a morning
service there with Anna, Vara, Patrick and Patrick’s dad. The service was
really interesting; each prayer or song switched from English to Afrikaans to
Xhosa, and there was a visiting choir from a church in Mitchell’s Plain. Also,
the sermon itself just happened to be about the Boston Marathon bombings. Instead
of talking about the terror and pain, the priest instead spoke about the
runners that kept running to the hospital to donate blood, or the bystanders
who rushed in to help the victims. Essentially, he was saying that in
situations such as these, it is the examples of human kindness and generosity
that ultimately shine through. Overall, I had a great experience and I’m glad
we went.
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| St George's Cathedral, Wale Street, Cape Town, South Africa |
It
is fitting that we went to church on our last Sunday in Cape Town considering
how much my time here has changed the way I view religion. At home, I’m not
particularly religious. I’ve been going to Southport Congregational Church
since I was little, but I’ve never I bought all the stuff we were taught in
Sunday School. I mostly just kept going for the sake of the community- I was
involved with the Youth Group in high school, and even now it’s nice to go and
see all those familiar faces I’ve grown up around. I thought that was just the
case in my church, which is why I never pursued religion outside of home. But
then I came here, and that changed everything. Religion is EVERYWHERE in South
Africa, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first. But after spending the
past few months here, I’ve come to see religion in a whole different way. It’s
about much more than just reading the bible and reciting prayers; it’s all
about creating a community. Maybe that’s why it’s so central to the South
African way of life. This country is still dealing with a lot of problems, and
so people are naturally drawn to that sense of support that comes from their
beliefs. No matter what happens to them, they will always have God and they’ll
always have their church community at their side. While I’m still not entirely
sure what I believe, this trip has given me a new appreciation for the value of
religion.
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