Running head: THE STRENGTHENING OF MY BELIEF IN GOD

Personal Worldview Assignment: The Strengthening of My Belief in God

Ryan J Dickson
University of New Brunswick
December 15th, 2014
RCLP 1011 Worldviews, Religions and Cultures

THE STRENGTHENING OF MY BELIEF IN GOD

Many times I have heard my grandmother say, God only knows

when I ask a tough question, or it happened for a reason when
something bad happened to me referring to Gods higher plan. As a
Christian, I believed that everything happened for a reason and while
taking Worldviews; I had questioned whether or not I still believed in
God. At first, I thought that this course was going to change my
worldview, especially after becoming fascinated with other religions
and learning more about other peoples beliefs. I related these new
pieces of information back to my own life and found that this course
actually strengthened my original worldview, which is comprised
mainly of Christianity.
Throughout this paper I will focus on framework number three:
Ultimate or Existential Questions and to be more specific the subsection Theos: Greater force, power, being in the universe: theism. I
will talk about personal stories from my own life and use them to show
that I believe that there is a greater force or power, which I believe to
be the Christian God.
If There Is A God, Then Why Do Children Die At Such Young
Ages?
While reading the slides provided by Dr. Valk, I came across
theodicy, which is The existence of a good God in the face of evil.
(Valk, 2014) This brought back a question that has come up earlier in

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my life, why do children and young people die? This was one of the
major things that started to sway me away from Christianity. However,
the answer that I have formed only strengthened my belief in
Christianity. This question comes from earlier in my life and pertains to
two people that I knew, Thomas Woods and Scott Bowes. I will tell
Thomas story first.
The Story Of Thomas Woods And How He Has Shown Me That
There Is A God
Thomas Woods my classmate in my first two years of school. He
was a boy full of joy and always could brighten up someones day by
being in his or her presence. He was diagnosed with cancer at the
young age of 6. Yet, he was one of the bravest people that I ever knew.
Cancer did not change how he was always joyful and positive. He
enjoyed the song The River by Garth Brooks. The chorus reads: I will
sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry like a bird upon the wind these
waters are my sky Ill never reach my destination if I never try so I will
sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry. (Brooks, 1991) This perfectly
described his outlook on life and one day he got up in front of my
whole school and sang this song, which the whole school to tears. I will
never forget the bravery and courage it took for him to do that. Now,
whenever I am going through a rough time I listen to that song and
remember how positive Thomas was. I always thought that it was
unfair that he was taken from his family at a young age. Then I did

THE STRENGTHENING OF MY BELIEF IN GOD

some deeper thinking and I realized that he brightened everyones life

and made us appreciate the things that we have in life. In my opinion,
God put him on this planet to teach people lessons and to brighten
peoples lives as well. He still does even now that he is in heaven, as
his family keeps his memory alive each year with an annual school
award given to student who is kind, imaginative and loves life, just like
Thomas did.
How Thomas Woods Proves That You Can Have Free Will Along
with Gods Plan
Free will is defined as The ability to exercise rational control
over ones volitions. (Berthold, 2004) I used to believe that with hard
work and dedication anything could be achieved in life. Now, I see that
there in certain circumstances such as Cancer things cannot be
changed and this is a part of Gods plan. I now see that as science and
religion can work together (which is another concept that I was
unaware of before taking this course) Gods plan can work together
with free will, they do not have to go against one another. Thomas did
not have free will in the sense that he got cancer and died because of
it. This was part of Gods bigger plan. However, he did have free will
when it came to choosing how he handled his situation. He could have
easily been very sad and negative about his situation, yet he stayed
positive and brought joy to everyone around him. This was his decision
he had control over.

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How Scott Bowes Has Taught Me That There Is A God

Scott Bowes was my best friend for a long time; he was the one
person that really respected me for who I was. He never judged me, we
really got along super well and we totally understood each other. I
cant count how many times we would pick up some friends and go
drive all day or head to the river for some fun. He was the one guy that
I knew that would literally do anything for anyone. He was the nicest
person I had ever met. Scott was born with a hearing disorder and had
to wear a hearing aid for a long time and he talked a little bit different
than most people because of this. However, this did not slow him down
in any aspect of his life, as he still did well in school, was an extremely
nice guy and even set records in the 5km and 10 km races for the 18
and above age class in the annual Rock N Run race on the Miramichi.
One night before shortly before summer in 2013, Scott planned on
having some people up to his grandfathers camp in Strathadam, which
is a 15-minute drive from my house. He called me up and asked if I
wanted to go over because I hadnt seen him in awhile due to the all
the studying I had been doing for exams and because of my tryouts for
the Canada Games baseball team. He even offered to do an extra 30
minute round trip just so we could hangout. I had to decline the
generous offer however and told him that we would hang out
sometime soon for sure. That night Scott was in the passenger seat of
his car and was a little bit intoxicated. A guy at the party convinced

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Scott he was sober enough to drive, which he was not and they
crashed the car. Scott died that night. I will always regret not being
there because I believe that I could have convinced him to not get in
that car. This experience in my life paired with what I have learned in
Worldviews, has really set me up to believe that a person that nice was
definitely put here on Earth by God in part of a plan to show others
how to get through their hardships, like Scott did. Also Scott was
placed on this planet to make everyones lives better while he was
alive and then finally he sadly taught everyone a lesson as well to not
get in a vehicle with someone under the influence under any
circumstances. There is a verse from the Bible that I believe sums up
how both Thomas and Scotts life have taught me that there is a God.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
(Proverbs 16:9 English Standard Version). Scott and Thomas were
kind-hearted and planned their way through life being kind to people
and taking a positive outlook in things. God set the steps one of which
in Thomass case was Cancer and in Scotts case the car crash.
By using the knowledge that I have gained from World Views to
analyze the experiences in my past I have found that I do believe in a
higher being, and that higher being happens to be the Christian God.
References
Brooks, T.G. (1991). The River. On Ropin The Wind. Liberty 57765

THE STRENGTHENING OF MY BELIEF IN GOD

Valk J. (2014) Knowing Self and Others, Framework #3, Ultimate or

Existential Questions, Fredericton New Brunswick, University of New
Brunswick
Berthold, F. (2004). God, Evil, and Human Learning: A Critique and
Revision of the

Free Will Defense in Theodicy. Albany, NY: State

University of New York Press.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Retrieved from:
https://www.biblegateway.com/