First Entry

Q: What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors.   

I am a Christian. Yes, I'm a believer of Jesus Christ's teachings. And, my native culture didn't affect my religious belief much at all. In the past, I thought was a Christian because I was born in a Christian family. I've also seen thousands of people who claimed be Christians but they were merely hypocrites who did not know anything about Chrisitianity. Thusly, I didn't call myself as a Christian because I didn't know a lot about it and if I claimed to be a Christian without any understanding, I would also be a hypocrite. However, I didn’t care much about how other people behaved and the external influences regarding the questions of faith. And I still don't care much about other's faith.

I started my musical education back when I was 5 years old. My first piano teacher quit because I never practiced. But my mother kept on getting new teachers to continue my music lessons. As years passed, I eventually quit piano and joined the elementary school band as a clarinetist and an oboist. During the time in middle school band I learned to play the flute, the trombone, the saxophone, and the bassoon. By the time I was an eighth grader I was able to listen to a song to identify almost everything about it such as: the tempo, the key signature, the chord progression, and number of instruments used. I also had the ability to notate a score by listening. But, about a year ago, I started to have blackouts when playing the oboe, my primary instrument. My doctor said I had to stop playing the instrument because it had bad affects on my heart and my lungs. From that day, I had to quit playing the instrument that I’ve played for 5 years. 

Quitting the oboe had a great impact on my life. I lost 5 years of my life when the doctor said: stop playing the oboe. At the time, I didn’t call myself as a Christian but I believed that Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But I started to have doubts about Him. I cursed Him for taking away the result of 11 years of all my efforts on music. But then my mom pulled a 20 year old, dusty acoustic guitar from the garage. I started to play the guitar as if I was possessed by something, and I now can proudly say that in less than a year, I have reached a higher understanding about music with the guitar compared to the 11 years I’ve spent playing a variety of instruments. I started to understand what soul power was and other music stuff too. But, most importantly, I learned that if ‘sound’ is God’s breath, music is His language. 

I’m quite passionate about music. I firmly believe God didn’t give me the ability to quickly pick up various instruments for no reason. I don’t believe that He accidentally gave me the ears which Mr. Cho, who has perfect pitch, would like to steal and replace his if he had the chance to do so. I don’t believe that God randomly gave me the ability to make a tune instantaneously. I know that He has certain purpose with my abilities and I will use it to glorify Him. 

I’m a Christian.   

Oh, just in case if you are wondering why I don't care about other's beliefs is because it's really hard to deal with the problems in my life and my faith and I don't wish to run into issues concerning other's beliefs when my faith isn't that stable.