The Same Hesitant Rhythm

by Brittany D. Kusserow

2008

Abstract: To the many who speak the names of God in different tongues, to the many who view ideas of God in different ways, to those who are courageous enough to doubt the existence of a higher power or powers, to those who are courageous enough to ask the hard questions – let there be peace in the unknowing. Let there be peace in the journey when the journey seems hopeless. Let time work in ways which we do not understand, in ways which are not linear, which are separated yet intertwined. Let us cling to the moments in which we feel the presence of something greater. Let us grasp desperately at straws and through that desperation, find despair. Let us turn despair into hope, and hope into acceptance. Let us wait until we have those moments again. When I first came to Ball State University in the fall of 2004, I intended to major in Telecommunications. Three semesters and countless credit hours later, something changed my mind, something inexplicable came over me in the pouring rain by the Bell Tower. I became a major in the field of Religious Studies. Not to learn the ins-and-outs of any one particular tradition, not to proselytize or evangelize, but to take a greedy sample of as much of the world's religious diversity as I could, inside and outside of the classroom. While here I have furthered a still-limited knowledge of Unitarian Universalist traditions, Christian and Jewish practice, and multiple spiritual ideologies of the Native American people of the southwest. My curiosity has been piqued attempting to understand tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Islam. I have also learned of and studied religions I never before knew existed, such as the Bahá'í faith. My own Christian upbringing has come into personal question and close scrutiny numerous times.

Download this thesis at cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/191253.