Religious Practices

From the time I entered pre-kindergarten at the age of 5 till high school graduation I had always been enrolled at a catholic institution. Every week we had a class mass to attend as well as attending mass with my family every Sunday morning. I even attended a Bible camp for 3 summers outside of Jefferson City. It was a week-long overnight camp. Not only did I enjoy it because it allowed me to escape my parents for one week or the fact that the boy to girl ratio was always 1:2 but it wasn’t a Catholic teaching camp. For once I was learning a different denomination. It was still Christian but emphasized a few different believes compared to Catholicism. After attending this camp for 3 summers I couldn’t help but question by own beliefs in Catholicism. It’s safe to say I considered myself close to God at this point in my life, prayed every night before I went to bed and even began censoring the language that came out of my mouth for once. Unfortunately this phase of my life ended around the time I started high school. It was probably sometime halfway through freshmen year when I stopped praying every night and lost any sense of self-censorship on my mouth. As the following years slowly passed I now find myself in limbo regarding God and any religious affiliation. I do not even attend mass anymore when I’m visiting my family back at home unless it’s Easter of Christmas. I wouldn’t call it confusion, just that I’m trying to figure out which denomination fits me and my beliefs suitably. However, at the same time before I can choose any denomination for myself I need to figure out just what exactly I believe. Though I don’t agree with the practices of The Church of Jesus with Signs Following and their use of a venomous snake I do have to respect that they are comfortable practicing such an odd denomination without any regard for ridicule. If it is what they believe in then they shouldn’t feel ashamed whatsoever; good for them. The Following are some photos from the bible camp I visited for 4 straight summers out in Vienna, MO. Its name is Turkey Hill Ranch Bible Camp. After browsing through some of my old photos it’s certainly no mystery as to why I considered that one week each year the highlight of my summer.