Sociology

Spirituality in and religion in my early childhood
Memories of spirituality in my early years are filled with mixed feelings on what is true faith. I remember with nostalgia the sudden death of my Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Abigail Johnson who I had grown to become a close friend together with her family. Nevertheless when cancer cells started multiplying in her body, the excruciating pain she went through on her death bed- death was something the community accepted as a gift to rescue her from the painful ordeal she was in. However, this left some difficult questions etched in me. Why could the healing power of God not heal a woman who had dedicated her life in serving Him Was God supernatural and were there some things that He could not do

Otherwise I found solace in the action-oriented Christian walk of my mother, Jane Peterson. As I grew up, spirituality and religion was defined to me as a set of activities I saw my mother do. She would pray three times in a day and once would summon the whole family to sit together and read the bible, sing and pray. On Sunday, my siblings and I would be dressed smartly for Sunday school where we were encouraged to participate in various church activities such as drama, bible recitation and games.
My mother believed in God and our home had spiritual decors and books my father, Paul Johnson, however was only a faithful churchgoer. He would come home in the evening bring some meat and go to the pub for his usual drink though he always made sure he got back before we slept and off course he attended church on Sunday. When I was ten years, my father underwent a dramatic change, called salvation. He stopped drinking and started reading the bible, attending other Christian meetings and leading prayers before meals.

Brother Maurice Mutegi from Africa was an interesting believer he was a helper in our homestead. He was very prayerful and anointed our house, the gate, the borehole and other places perhaps that is why for years our well never went dry when others around did. But when Mutegi divorced his wife, it surprised many even my mother because this was not to happen to Christians, especially strong Christians like him.

Otherwise the backbone of my spiritually was mostly anchored through observing and not the verbal teachings of my Christian faith and I appreciate my entry point into religion which has moulded me into a more mature and independent Christian.

Spirituality in and Religion in my Adulthood
My mother was a pillar of faith in our home even when my father was not a participant in what she believed in. I believe she prayed for him constantly and God worked in my father until he changed. This experience at the back of my mind has helped me to know that it is upon me to make a personal decision to stand for what I believe in as a Christian.

Secondly, over the years twelve since my father underwent the spiritual transformation I have seen him change into a better person. He was a heavy eater and drinker and would wake up in the middle of the night for a second supper while today he can go through a full day of prayer and fasting. He also encourages me in my faith walk to believe God no matter how grime the situation seems especially when I attended college away from home. He is now the chairman of our home church and mother teaches Sunday school.

However, my initiation into the Christian faith being of doing not just mere talk has presented me with a difficult time sharing my faith verbally. I am still inclined to a more action-oriented Christian walk and people say they have observed me from a distance and love my character. They only hindrance is I cannot explain my Christian experience in words but view it as something one must experience personally.

The media now carries many programs and articles encouraging one to uphold religion in their lives and all religions are receiving ample time. I listen and watch such content to enrich my faith though with a pinch of salt because many speakers are also out to deceive and enrich themselves in the process.

Development process
While in High School I accepted that only Jesus Christ could save me from my sinful nature and I started reading the bible, praying and attending fellowship more often. I also observed how other more mature Christians and my fellow classmates conducted themselves and aped them in line with the bible teachings.

Eventually I was the one being watched and guiding others. I lead a group of Christians in bible study and this has helped me develop a disciplined walk with God in time management, fasting, planning and leadership. An international Christian program Praise the Lord, deposited in me diverse spiritual truths that has helped me to stand spiritually. However, I was very disappointed when the preaching on prosperity hit the scenes. Though I have come to believe that Christians should prosper, that is not the main reason we are believers. If I gain wealth before God trains me on stewardship, I am bound to mess up later and attract scorn to the Christian faith.

My Future Goals
I have often desired to impact my generation with the true Gospel of our Lord  through emphasizing on the contents in Gods word that remain true in every generation and throughout the world. I will use the written word in addition to being more vocal in Presbyterian Church fellowships and social websites such as MySpace, Facebook and Netlog. In all this, I cannot fail to say that ministers of the word who look seemingly faithful have disappointed me and a few years down the line there emerges stories of sinful things they have been doing that makes me to wonders whom to trust nowadays.

Also I have a friend who was a former drug addict but is now a transformed Christian, I plan to write his story and make known to others that God changes people. He is also starting a group to help many in my village addicted to drinking to stop the vice. This will demand my time and finances as we assist the addicts become assets to society and their families too through counselling. It will be great to see such people with families and well bred children who can also change others.

Lately, along the streets I seem to notice the people begging and I have helped many buy lunch and feed them. In addition, to this there are many children homes in our area of children whose parents died out of HIV and others abandoned. I intend to be visiting them once in a while as a volunteer in accordance to my Christian faith.

Influence Professionally
My Christian faith has built stamina in me on matters of patience and hard work, like praying for something does not mean I get it right then. So as I work, I have realized I have to put in much effort and resources to get some good results at the end of the day. I have read the bible where it is stated that faith is the substance of things not seen. This has stirred me to desire to succeed in my career and own a magazine production company in future. I have always believed that it is possible in God and I therefore keep my focus on the horizon despite the obstacles I find along my path today.

At work, I encourage my colleagues, though some do not always agree with me in my religious views, to find solace in God in times of need. As I do my work with outmost integrity, excellence and delivering on deadline, I keep hoping those who are around me can be drawn to the faith I have in God. My faith teaches me not to lie and sometimes this is the only route to take to earn more money and not have a bad rapport with my bosses. I have purposed not to go for night vigils that are disregarded by God though sometimes my boss wants me to go to such places and get clients and fails to understand my basis for refusing.

Reading some explicit content and watching X-rated movies is something I hate to do and when doing reviews for works of such nature, I explain to my boss why I will not do it. I am a bit worried about how long he will accept my excuses. Will the company get someone more outgoing to replace me Or am I making an issue out of nothing But I believe God is still working in me, teaching me and he is not done with me yet. Also most of my work, reviews, is based on principled books enriched with biblical content because this is what I read most of the time but my colleagues think I overdo it. My colleague, Jackie Jeremy once told me that he is also a Christian but not as vocal as I am. She thinks talking about it tends to push people away and faith is quite personal.

I need wisdom not to push opportunities that could make me a better person away from me. I also need wisdom to relate with people well and knowledge to handle diverse situations that I come across at work and home.

Conclusion
It has not been a direct path in my knowledge of spirituality and religion. I have learnt through observation and reading too. I realize that I still have much to learn especially now that I have friends from other religions such as Islam, Judaism, and Hindu.