peterkim blog

I saw a link to an article on Yahoo News titled Islam’s hajj a difficult spiritual quest and I clicked on it because I thought it might be interesting.

However, I was extremely disappointed after reading it. I thought it would be an insightful first-hand perspective of a hajj from a genuinely seeking or practicing Western Muslim. Instead, it was more of a story of someone looking for easy spirituality and not being able to “find God” because the weather, the crowds, and the “horror” of having to sacrifice an animal got in her way. As I read it, even though I’m not a Muslim obviously, I was actually sorta offended as a person of faith. The journey of faith is not one that is meant to be easy and to suggest that God should be as accessible to us as a Starbucks or McDonald’s is nothing more than an imposition of our self-centered Western attitude upon God.

Atheists like to say that religion is just humanity’s way of explaining our origins and our future. I don’t see the point in being religious if you agree with that definition of what religion is. I’m not looking to God for Him to be a coping mechanism for life. I believe that God created us and not the other way around.

Anyway, back to the article and its author. What exactly was she expecting? Was she hoping that God would miraculously provide 70 degree weather without a cloud in sight? Was she hoping she could make the journey without masses of annoying people also wanting to have an encounter with God? The kicker for me was her objection to the animal sacrifice—apparently for her, following the commandments of PETA are more important than practicing millenia-old traditions of her religion.

True spirituality is not easy. It’s not because God intentionally wants to make things difficult for you; as with all truly good things in life, being a true believer requires real effort.