1. What are your impressions of faith development in relation to an individual\'
ID: 3456670 • Letter: 1
Question
1. What are your impressions of faith development in relation to an individual's other developmental processes? Do you believe that there there is interconnection, or do you oppose the idea that successful faith development requires successful development in other areas? Explain your answer using examples.
2. Using your personal experiences, briefly describe some of the most meaningful characteristics of your faith development process. If there were pivotal moments or notable influences, good and bad, mention the significance of those people or events. You only need to include the most relevant details.
Explanation / Answer
1.Faith may be characterized as an integral, centering process underlying the formation of the beliefs, values, and meanings that (1) gives coherence and direction to persons’ lives; (2) links them in shared trusts and loyalties with others; (3) grounds their personal stances and communal loyalties in a sense of relatedness to a larger frame of reference; and (4) enables them to face and deal with the challenges of human life and death, relying on that which has the quality of ultimacy in their lives”(Fowler 2004).So faith development focuses more on a person’s connection to the world. It doesn’t have to be linked to religion of the person.My personal opinion is that everyone has something that they truly believe in, and work hard to achieve. Faith is simply that. Faith is hoping and believing something you really desire and want is going to come to pass, that it will happen for you.Even if you aren’t a religious person, I feel that faith plays a part in your everyday life. There’s always something a person desires, and they have that gut feeling that they will get it.Having faith keeps you going in life and the belief in God strengthens that he is there to help you in every situation. 2.The development of faith concerning others’ developmental processes appears to be wide-ranging. While there are likely more than seven stages of faith development, Fowler’s view that an individual’s biological, emotional, cognitive, psychosocial, and the role of religious meaning and practice are significant factors (Fowler, 20014). It is likely that all humans practice faith regardless of the object of worship. Fowler states that faith is the scaffolding that gives coherence and direction to a person’s life, links them in shared trusts and loyalties, provides rootedness to those loyalties and personal stances, and provides a structure that provides support in dealing with difficult situations (Fowler, 2004.) Regardless of stages of maturity, a belief in some system will develop in a child’s life. Regardless of stages of maturity, a belief in some system will develop in a child’s life. Although I agree with Erikson that a healthy trust in infancy with mothers and caregivers can provide a healthy recognition of faith in later years, an infant who did not have a healthy caregiver relationship will also find other truths they will develop as trustworthy, healthy or not. I feel that there is an interconnection between favorable development in other areas and fruitful faith development. During my middle child years, my once stable relationship changed with one of my parents changed to an abusive relationship due to medical complications. This dynamic continued through my early college years. Although I desired to attend a church of any kind, my parents’ desire for faith in any religion waned. I began to act out rebelliously and began to have faith in my achievements and unhealthy relationships. I developed the belief that my actions had no real consequences, and that people were not who they appeared to be. This view was reinforced by my experiences and relationships that helped form my still developing global sense of self. My faith in my actions and relationships around me proved unsuccessful and untrustworthy. This continued on through my first year of college. It was then that someone presented me with a new and different kind of world view that challenged my faith. This new system of belief challenged me to put my faith in something that was unfamiliar with the coherence and direction, trusts and loyalties, grounding, and support system I had grown up with. I wrestled for some time trying to reconcile and the two differing faiths without success. I came to the conclusion that this new way, a faith in the life and death of Jesus Christ, could not be combined with my faith in myself and the fragile relationships with others around me. It has been nearly thirty years since that intervention in my life. If successful faith development could be defined as continued failure and disappointments in myself, circumstances, and others, while somehow being given the grace to maintain hope in a God that cannot be seen or touched, then I suppose my faith development has been a success in spite of my unsuccessful developmental processes.
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