CIGARETTE BUTTS AND SENSELESS TANGENTIALITIES

"My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God…" 

I believe that religion, when not fully understood, can be a scary thing. It scares the hell out of me to see believers flocking every church here for the past two weeks after the catastrophic event that tested this country's faith and stability. Yes, flowers flooded every streets, candles lighted everywhere, church masses were a full house almost hourly 24/7 and prayers reverberated everywhere. What a solid, religious country! Scary. You want to know why?

Let's rewind things back, maybe a month earlier.

I myself is not a saint. I am filthy and sinful like most of you are. In a foreign land like this, where faith is my strength, I see to it that I hear the mass or at least pray solemnly in a church (doesn't matter if its a Christian, Catholic or Protestant) as much as I can. And in these churches, almost 90% are Filipinos. Even some religious booklets are in Tagalog and not Norsk as you might expect it to be. It's very rare to see white people in a mass. Seldom would you see them clinging to churches. Seldom would you see them praying. On weekdays, churches are either empty or closed. And I really noticed this because churches are sprinkled all over the country, and when I say sprinkled, one can find a sacellum in almost every street.

Could this mean that their faith is seasonal? Or better yet be it called PRN (as needed) faith? Or is because of their standard of living that they already forgot to give due glorification to the one that gave them everything? This is sad. One must experience a tragedy to seek for spiritual  nourishment. For a country so blessed with wealth and power,  maybe that's all they've needed before these recent Oslo bombing and killing happened.

Take a look at the Philippines, and see the difference. See how faith binds us every day. See how religion has been a part of our daily life and principles. Is it because millions are jobless? Millions suffer from an empty, gurgling stomach everyday? Is it because millions have empty pockets and have only faith to turn to?

Maybe Religion is truly economically influenced.

Please don't get me wrong. One has the power for self-determination. These are only my thoughts on the cultural and socio-economic aspect of spirituality in the new world I am living. And I don't hope for an everyday bombing or Utøya Massacre to happen here just so that they would sustain their sudden religiousness.

I just hope they'll realize that it doesn't take much to say a prayer.








Disclaimer: This entry does not generalize Norwegians nor does it intend to offend any religious group or believer.