The Outsider Goes to Peru

       Lately there have been gaps between the update of the blog. Part of this reason is busyness and partially it is also due to my growing apathy towards religions use in general. Suffice to say that interest was reignited by two things. One of my best friends telling me about faith work during the tornadoes in Oklahoma in his work for FEMA, and trip to Peru.

      The trip was largely a family trip but also was through my Mom's work, so I got to meet more people who my Mom knew or who were worked with my Mom. Suffice to say the group was amazing! On the trip no one got sick, and the differences in age was a non-issue. There were always ways to talk and connect regardless of our differences.

      The next entries will be exploring what I saw, learned and experienced. I would see how much of the indigenous faith still lives on, even after the Spanish Conquest. I would see and learn about the complexity of the Catholic Faith in Peru and how in many cases it has been integrated (or figures from it like Mary or Santiago) have been integrated into faith practices of the people, along with the faith of their ancestors.

      I wouldn't say that I believe in the supernatural anymore than I do before. The trip didn't change me in that way. I don't know if God or any other supernatural thing (spirits, demons, angels, etc.) actually exist outside of our minds and I haven't been convinced that when I do have a spiritual experience it is in fact a supernatural event or supernatural player who created it. I always remain open to the possibility but that is not mean I know or am convinced of it.

    This trip didn't change that fact, but this trip was also a chance to learn a lot about myself and grow with the help or silence, prayer and the rituals we did with our guide who is a Medicine Man and Shaman. The next many entries will be that story.

The Outsider

            What does it mean to be an outsider? By default it is to be outside of an organization or group, which can be both a gift and a curse, but gives a very unique perspective.

          For much of my life since I left the Church of Latter Day Saints (I disagreed with a lot about the faith - which I will share with you when I revisit a Mormon Church) in Middle School, the Outsider has been the role I have felt most comfortable in. Even as part of me for the longest time felt I needed to be a part of a religious community. Because of this I tried on many different faiths, for a while I was Pagan, I briefly explored Buddhism (in middle school, and then later in college when I visited China) and then come high school I considered converting to Sikhism, Kabbalah (Mystic) Judaism and Unitarian Universalism. At one point I even considered converting to Catholicism for my girlfriend and her family.

    It was from the outsider's perspective that I would choose not to join the Eastshore Unitarian Church, after experiencing the politics of the faith in regards to the different leaders' interactions with one another. It was also this outsiders perspective that lead me to see the cons and what I disagreed with about all these faiths, even as I experienced the pros and positive aspects of the faiths. It was from this outsider perspective that I was a part of Youth Exploring Spirituality (YES) and  Interfaith Voices of Youth (IVY).As an outsider I have learned so much, but it's been years since I've seriously asked the questions that YES and IVY asked. I want to bring that back with this blog.

   I plan on visiting different faith communities and blogging about my perspective and experience of them here on the day I visit a community and take part in it. I'm hoping that the blog posts will be weekly. Some days may have 2 posts, if I visited 2 different communities. What the blog will be describing is: What was the service like? What the core beliefs are (and how they differ from other denominations)? What was the community like? How was I treated? and hopefully interviewing the leader/minister/priest/iman/rabbi/ect. if there is one, on their beliefs and what they believe they're faith preaches. I will also include my agreements and disagreements with the faith and what I connected to and didn't connect to about the faith and community.

   I don't think I could ever convert to any faith. The outsider is where I have the most solace, fulfillment and peace, and also have experienced the most growth. But I do think there is much to be learned and experienced both from the faith and the community that makes up the faith. I plan on writing about the pros and cons that I found first hand and bringing an honest outsider perspective to the communities that I visit. I'm hoping you'll be able to learn as much as me, and if your interested, maybe visit the places I visited yourself.