Since I came to Singapore, I have been receiving much religious information, most of which is about Christianity. For instance, my "host family" is actually a church; I took a learning course (Cultural Cornerstone) conducted by tutors who are pastors; I joined in a youth camp organized by Salvation Army and so on. Nowadays, I has formed a habit to go to the church I always went to on Saturday to pray.
After more than 5 months' experiencing of Christianity, I has formed some opinions of my own about this most well-known religion in the world and also about what attitude we Chinese students should hold towards it.
The first point I want to mention is that I think Christianity is a positive mature religion in Singapore. In every district, you can find churches and there will always be prays in weekends. According to my experience, these followers really believe in Jesus and always make efforts to evangelize. Also, it could be strongly felt that Christianity has play a great an positive role in their life. All of these shows that Christianity has developed into a mature and positive religion in Singapore.
Moreover, I think we Chinese students, especially scholars like us in Singapore should try to learn something about Christianity and experience the life of Christians. Since we are bound to live in Singapore for at least 10 years and there is a great chance that we would go to western countries for further development, it would be better for us to know about Christianity. At least, it is no harm to do so, isn't it?
Lastly , I just want to share some personal feelings. I am not a Christian and I don't think I would be one in foreseeable time. However, my church gladly received me, a rather strange member. The pastor allows me to go to the church every Saturday and receive the Holy Communion. It gives a warm feeling and reflects the open mind of Christians. What's more, every time I go to the church, I would achieve absolute peace in my mind. All the worries, concerns, tasks are left behind me. With the melodic hymns among the devout believers,I can feel a pure joy rising from my heart. It is a kind of euphoria much superior to the superficial joy i get in my daily life. The last point I want to mention is that in the church, we can make friends with a group of people who are straight, honest, kind and devout. Although my friends in class, in hostel are also good people, I feel extremely warm and safe with them, especially in a foreign country without my parents. The suggestions from the pastors, the comfort from friends, the study we together did all gave me much help in fitting into the society here and did make some changes to my life.
Thus, wish we could learn Christianity and be blessed by Jesus, Father Almighty.
I agree with your point that we should have a deeper recognition about religions. Perhaps, in China, our parents or society always tell us that we should not believe in such things. However, I think owning a faith is not a shameful thing. On the contrary, in many cases, it could give us mental consolation and guide us to become lofty and compassionate. Furthermore, as a student who will at least spend ten years in a western environment, knowing Christianity could help us better understand others’ thought and avoid some unnecessary misunderstandings.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blogs. I think you are a good guy (^-^), please keep going and do your best in the university. 顶！