Impressions of Faith in Relation to an Other Individual's Developmental Processes

Introduction

I believe that there is an interconnection between faith developments in relation to an individual's other developmental processes. Therefore, it is true that successful faith development needs successful development in other aspects of human life. Fowler states the seven stages of faith and their relation to the development of identity from birth to teens. Faith growth principles and study emphasis on the appreciative of faith as the basis of most social associations, the advance of personal identity, and the creation of individual and social meanings. As stated in the document, faith is more inclusive than the different religions that we have in the world today. Therefore, faith is a very integral part that is the core of the procedure that involves the formation of values, beliefs, and meanings that dictates the direction of an individual's life. Faith has a great influence on the development of personality and identity as it helps people to deal with the various challenges that are encountered in our lives such as death.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Faith starts from childhood as an infant develops trust hence forming bonds with the mother and other close caregivers. As one develops from being a child to being a teenager and consequently an adult, the scope of faith widens as one matures physically and emotionally hence accommodating more object relations. When one is exposed to religious symbols and other sacred practices, one nurtures a sense of relatedness to the transcendent and develops faith in the religion and believes in a supernatural power, God. Research and theories developed to provide detailed information that supports the idea that there is an interconnection between faith developments in relation to an individual's other developmental procedures. Faith development involves a complex interplay of biological maturation, psychological experience, the role of the religious symbols, meanings and practices, emotional and cognitive development. The development of faith is not automatic and assured, but involves movement from one stage to another.

My Personal Experience

My faith has had a steady and progressive development that has been interconnected to the development of identity and personality. When I was young, my parents used to be staunch Christians and renowned Catholics. However, when I was about 13 years of age there was a turn of event whereby my father and mother got divorced. The custody of my two siblings and myself was given to our dad. After a few years, our father got depressed and embarked on excessive drinking and became alcoholic. He was no longer the responsible dad that we had known for years. His behavior and character changed and he neglected his duties hence he no longer had time for us.

We started to occasionally miss church and then finally we stopped attending church and even stopped praying. Things in our family moved from bad to worse. I struggled but managed to get to college through well-wishers. The suffering that we had undergone made me believe there was no God or any supernatural power. However, there was a turn of events when one of my college mates challenged me and invited me to her church and we started praying together. After two months of prayer and fasting my life changed again for the best. My family got back together and from then I started to believe in God for he had done a miracle through my prayers. Since then, my faith development has been inter-connected to my other developmental processes as I grow from one life stage to the other which is in line with Fowler philosophies.

References

Fowler, J. W., & Dell, M. L. (2004). Stages of faith and identity: Birth to teens. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 13(1), 17-33.