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CULTURE IS THE ROOT, BELIEF IS THE BRANCH

Spirituality & Religion 97 days ago Participants (1)
  • Simplify
    97 days ago

    Culture is the root. Belief is the branch- both must breathe.

    I grew up knowing that New yarm is not just a food in Igboland.- it is statement. Before any person taste the first yarm elders pour libration, prayers were said and respect were paid to the land and God of our ancestors. No celebration before Thanksgiving. No harvest without honour. It wasn't optional, it was identity.

    Then I grew up in a time where church harvest, anniversaries and morden festival fills our calendar. Colourful banners, Thanksgiving dance, Seed sowing, Offering, Choir ministration. Same joy, same gratitude --just expressed differently.

    And somewhere between Iri Ji (New yarm festival) and church harvest many of us began to feel torn.

    -can I attend Iri Ji(New yarm festival) and still be a true believer?

    • Is culture faithless?
    • Is faith a rejection of culture?

    But pause for a moment .

    At the hear of New yarm is gratitude for provision. At the heart of harvest is Thanksgiving to God.

    Different forms, same human need to say thank you

    Culture gave us a language of Thanksgiving long before microphone and altars.

    Faith gaves us a deeper understanding of who we are thanking. The danger begins when culture turns into ritual without meaning and when belief turns into condemnation without understanding.

    You can respect Iri Ji without worshipping idol and you can celebrate church harvest without mocking your heritage.

    True balance is knowing that not every cultural practice is spiritual bondage and not every morden religious practice is spiritual superiority.

    Because if we are honest the drum at the New yarm and the praise song in church are both cries of joy.

    The dance at the village square and the dance at the altar comes from the same place of a thankful heart.

    -Culture tells us who we are.

    -Belief reminds us who we answer to.

    Growth is not abondoning your culture. It is redefining it with understanding.

    Growth is not rejecting church celebration, it is practicing them with humility.

     -Respect tradition

    -Practice faith with wisdom 

    -Let culture and belief walk together.

    After all a people who forget their culture looses their identity and a people who practice belief without love looses their humanity.

    So tell me:

    Do you see culture and faith as enemies?...or two paths leading to gratitude?.

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