the-modern-mosaic

[the-modern-mosaic]

First Mass Reflection

Doing anything for the first time as an adult can be intimidating, nerve-wracking, and even a little embarrassing. I took a surf lesson for the first time over the summer and I was so nervous it was hard to pay attention to the waves. I felt the same amount of nervousness before mass as I did before that surf lesson, ironically for the same reason: the fear of failure.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't have much of a religious background. Both of my parents grew up Catholic, but we never went to church growing up, so as I walked up the church steps to go inside I had no idea what to expect.

I sat in the back so that I could watch the other patrons and see what they did throughout the service. I looked at the books that were stashed in the back of the pew, hoping for some guidance on how the service was going to go, but there wasn't anything helpful in that regard. Just a large book full of songs.

I put my phone on Do Not Disturb as the service started. I had read online that weekday mass was typically around 20-30 minutes, so I settled in and got ready to learn.

The entire Mass took a full hour, which was nice. I was glad that I was able to see the full thing for my first time and not the abridged version. I didn't take Communion since I haven't done any of the other sacraments. The Priest talked about how your religiosity shouldn't start and end when you're physically in church, you need to embody Christ and his teachings at all times. This includes during times that are more challenging or irritating, everything is a lesson from God to make you better and get you ready for what's to come. I thought this teaching was interesting since it coincides with more secular teachings of mindfulness. When difficult things happen, it's important to maintain presence in the moment. Acknowledge what's going on and how you're feeling, but understand that you have to get through this moment and consider how it's going to make you better.

That's something that I've noticed so far in my limited study of religion, a lot of the teachings from different self help books, mindfulness practices, religions, gurus, etc. are essentially the same things. Mindfulness, gratitude, being kind to others, helping those around you, non-judgement, etc. Another teaching that I've been focusing on that's mentioned in the New Testament is being selfless and helping those who are impoverished. Jesus would give everything he had to help those who are in need, in an almost socialist way. I'll expand on that point in a later post.

Overall, my first Mass did influence my mood for the rest of the week. I kept thinking about what the Priest said and I tried to apply it to my life as much as possible. It did help me to maintain a more positive mindset, even when things at work or at home were frustrating. I've found myself complaining less, being more productive, and viewing trials as something to get through and grow from rather than something that serves only to ruin my mood and upset my life.

[the-modern-mosaic]

New Years Resolutions

Some people think that New Years resolutions are a waste of time or that it's silly to wait until the New Year to embark on a goal, which I partially agree with. While I do think that it's important to continuously set goals and have aspirations and that it's a bit of a waste to wait until January 1st to start on something that you want to do, I also think that it can feel very cleansing and satisfying to start something on the first day of a new year.

Planning out your New Years resolutions can be a challenge. I used to fall into the rut of setting the same resolutions each year and never accomplishing them. For example, I think I tried to learn how to do the splits 3 years in a row without success since I would get bored and give up on it. It's important to set goals that you're actually passionate about, don't set a goal just because you think it's what you should do.

Think back on the previous year, what inspired you? What topics were you interested in? Did you not get to travel somewhere that you wanted to go? Did you notice any perspectives or topics that you wanted to explore further? These are great questions to ask yourself before coming up with your resolutions.

Additionally, the New Year is a unique time since you can set a yearly challenge for yourself. For example, one of my challenges that I set for myself is to meditate daily for a year. Now, be careful setting this sort of resolution. I already had a fairly consistent meditation practice before i set this goal, so doing it for a year straight doesn't seem like an insurmountable task. You want to make sure the goals you set are realistic so that you don't fail and loose confidence in yourself.

With all that being said, this year I decided to center a lot of my resolutions around learning new things, specifically about religion and philosophy. I didn't grow up religious, so I don't have a large knowledge base about this topic. Religion is a huge part of global human culture, so I think it's important that I know a little bit about the five major religions. This year, I'm going to devote 10 weeks to studying and attending services for Christianity, 10 weeks for Judaism, 10 weeks for Islam, 10 weeks for Buddhism and 10 weeks for Hinduism with the final 2 weeks of the year being used to study Paganism.

I'm also going to spend a lot of my time reading books on philosophy and politics so that I can be more knowledgable in those areas as well. I know that philosophy and religion go hand in hand, so I think it's important to study them both together.

What resolutions did you set for the New Year? Or do you not believe in resolutions?