For any college student, it's difficult to maintain your religious practices and beliefs along with everything else on your plate. With classes, homework, social events, extra-curricular activities, maybe even a job, it just becomes so much easier to sleep in that precious weekend morning. I have been guilty of this many times myself-- probably more often than not. Even harder is the doubt that begins to settle in your heart as you learn more about the evil and corruption in this world. While some find this further turns them towards a spiritual outlook, others become confused and angry with their respected deity. While I am facing all of these presently, I find it important that I continue learning about my own religion and the God that I follow; however, more obstacles lie in my path from the ignorance surrounding my particular branch of faith, as well as the knowledge that my faith is a dying one.

I'm not one to usually talk frequently about my religious views. I find it hard enough to even explain my denomination's particular ideals. Few people have ever heard of Primitive Baptists, and many of those who have, have misguided ideas about how we work. A friend may believe our services to be old-fashioned (which they are in a way) and uncool. A local pastor may harbor a guess that we are the partying, jubilant kind! Well, actually it's quite the opposite. We sing for about 30 minutes, no organ present. The preacher speaks for an hour-- words to inspire us to act morally in daily life, to remind us why we need God's light. Then we sing some more and shake hands with everyone present. If we're really lucky, there's a homemade lunch after, too. And that's it. I love everything about our old-fashioned beliefs and ideals. I love that we dress formally in a show of respect to God. I love that we focus on self-improvement rather than how great we already may think ourselves to be. I love that we bow when we pray and speak directly to God.

However, we are "old-fashioned" in more ways than one. I often find myself the youngest person in the building, besides a couple babies on grandparents' knees. Not many people my age love the things I do; they prefer the newer, more modern branches, and that's perfectly okay! We should all be free in choosing where we find our spiritual happiness, even if this means nowhere at all. Some days though, I fear that my children will not have the opportunity to one day love Primitive Baptists as I do.

I know I am not the only person to experience frustrations over ignorance about my religion. I also know that I am certainly not perfect in my own beliefs and ignorance about others' ways of worship. While I hope that all of you will keep an open mind about others' beliefs, I also challenge you (and myself) to go and experience what we do not understand. Recently, I attended a Lutheran service offered on campus, and while I did not agree with everything I saw, I do believe I have a further understanding of how this particular religion works. I also came to terms with the fact that my approval isn't needed. I have no right to judge how others wish to live their lives, nor their preferences for worship as I expect others to respect me and my choices.

For those of you who have found yourselves slipping away from religion while in college, or those who have never been religious before, I encourage you to give it a try. Not only is it a time to rest and reflect, maybe even a way to connect again with your roots-- I've found that it also gives me motivation and courage to tackle the problems I see in the world.