Being in America has greatly impacted my life through the exposure of different cultures, languages, and religions. I am very open to people with different beliefs and practices. I love learning about their culture and way of life. I was born and raised a Catholic and was interested in learning about other religions for the diversity project. The religion I chose was Seventh Day Adventist because I recently met someone who practices this, her name is Biandra. I found out she was Adventist because when I asked her if she wanted to go to the club with me, she said she couldn’t because it was Sabbath. I had not paid attention to what she said until I read about Sabbath the following week in What is the Good Life class. The article I read talked about “relaxation from continuous and unending toil” on the seventh day. I eventually realized this is the religion Biandra practices! I then became very interested in her religion and decided to follow Biandra around on Sabbath to see exactly what she does.
Once the sun went down on Friday we stopped our work and anything we were doing that was not “God-like.” We turned off our phones and the television off and started singing, we then read scriptures (Psalms 9) and prayed. This is how Sabbath is opened, and when we finished we wished everyone a happy Sabbath. Church starts around 8:30 pm but since there is not an Adventist church on campus, Biandra and I went to the Reitz Basement with the Adventist Campus Ministries (ACM) and other students. We sang, praised, and had lessons. That Friday the focus on facades which is like a mask that someone puts on; they act like something they are not. We compared facades to pharisees, pharisees being people who put on a holy face but hate Jesus in their hearts. Samuel, one of the members, had an activity for us. He had a log in one and a grain of salt in the other. The log represented the a sin that you have committed but you choose not to acknowledge while the grain of salt represents a “spec in a neighbor’s eye,” a very small sin that one does not notice they commit. He placed them both on the floor and asked someone to find the grain of salt, this was very difficult to do and it showed that even the smallest sins are a big deal to God. For the next activity everyone was given an index card and was told to write two secret sins and choose a close friend that would read it (this person did not have to be present). We put the date our close friend would read it and showed the person next to us so they could witness and acknowledge this date. This activity was done because the bible says it is better to confess your sin to someone than to no one at all. The last thing we did that night was pray out loud then we went home and relaxed. Biandra told me she always prepares her clothes for the next day before she goes to bed so I did the same, we then prayed one last time.
On Saturday, Biandra and I woke up, showered, and ate breakfast. Since Adventists are not allowed to buy anything during Sabbath, we had to eat cheeze-its and granola bars. After waiting for our ride, we went to church where we sang and had mass. During the mass they called anyone who wanted a special prayer up to the front, this is usually elderly people and since Saturday was Children’s Day, the children conducted the special prayer. The scripture of the day was Genesis 2 Verses 1-3 which told why Adventists rest on the seventh day; after god finished creating the world, he wanted us to rest because he blessed the seventh day and wanted to take a break from all the work he did. The children emphasized that as humans we overwork ourselves and a day of rest is needed. Although God was not physically tired, the humans needed to worship him and everything he made throughout the week, it was a day to give thanks our God.
The church attended chose to feed their congregation so we got to eat after mass. Seventh Day Adventists do not use the stove on the Sabbath so our meal was prepared the night before. And many of them are vegetarians so the meal was meatless. After church Biandra and I went to one of the members houses for “small group,” also known as bible study. The topic was “anger.” Even though one of the human emotions is anger, we should never be justified by anger unless it is about God. If we are ever provoked by anger, we must turn the other cheek as Christians. Once the sun went down (at exactly 8:26 pm), Sabbath was closed with an ending song, scripture, and prayer. Now that the sun was down, we were able to go out!
Spending Sabbath with Biandra showed me how serious Seventh Day Adventists take the word of God and how they interpret it different from other religions. The fact they could not go out on Fridays seems terrible at first but now I see how important it is to them. As a Catholic, I really appreciate Adventists and their connections to God. Although I didn’t feel comfortable at times because of my lack of knowledge on the subjects, I did feel welcomed. My experience as an Adventists opened up my beliefs to the beliefs of others and it allowed me to appreciate the diversity of the people around me.
bryanadominique 