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"My Spiritual Quest" Ricky Vinson
As of August 2007, my relationship with religion was, at best, casual. In fact, the only conventional church I had attended with any degree of regularity was during my grade-school years. Back then, my family resided in Cedartown, Georgia, an hour or so out of Atlanta. During the summer break from school, my twin brother, Randy, and I would travel to McMinnville, Tennessee, approximately seventy-five miles southeast of Nashville, and spend a couple weeks with our paternal grandparents. While vacationing with our grandparents in rural McMinnville, my grandfather Carlos Vinson, grandmother Myrtis Vinson, Randy, and I would attend services at the local Seventh-Day Adventist church, where our grandparents were members. Still, Randy and I particularly enjoyed attending Vacation Bible School, a five-day event (Monday through Friday), which the church featured every summer. While we did study scriptures, the fondest memories I have of Vacation Bible School, actually, are the games we played and the snacks and refreshments we indulged in afterward. It is important to remember that I was in the 8-12-year-old age bracket during the Vacation Bible School era, and my priorities, then, were of a physical-sensory nature, not spiritual.
The 1990s through early 2000 proved to be the proverbial roller coaster ride for me. An abysmal amalgam of a failed try at college, time served in jail for an alcohol-related infraction, lengthy stays in more than one rehab, employment in the adult entertainment industry, and, ultimately, stranded at a dead-end factory job where near slave labor output was demanded a job I loathed I found myself standing at a critical crossroads. I was in my mid 30s, living with my mother, and, as the old country adage goes, it was root-hog or die. With that, I made the decision to return to college and succeed—at all costs! Utilizing commitment, determination, focus, and countless hours of cracking the books, I graduated from Motlow State Community College with an associate's degree in May 2007, with a 3.85 GPA to boot. While achieving my 3.85 GPA, I was fortunate enough to be inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, a crowning moment for me. With my Phi Beta Kappa membership, I applied for and received an academic scholarship to Lee University, a Church of God, liberal arts institution located in Cleveland, Tennessee, just above Chattanooga.
On August 13, 2007, I arrived at Lee University and settled into my campus apartment. Granted, before arriving, I was aware that Lee was a highly religious school that frowned on worldly behavior, but I readily admit that I wasn't ready for the life altering experience I was about to undergo. For example, I was use to smoking two or three packs of cigarettes per day and, also, having an occasional cocktail. However, such were forbidden on Lee campus; failure to adhere to these protocols could result in expulsion. After a period of trial and error, I made the necessary adjustments, and I honestly can say that, these days, I “do not drink” at all and have cut back on my smoking tremendously. Now, 1 go off campus to have a smoke, and as time moves on, my desire to smoke lessens. With my new lifestyle, I am much healthier; thus I am more in tune with the spiritual theme prevalent at Lee University. In a sense, my enrollment at Lee University demanded that I abandon my liberal do-as-I-please attitude and turn to a conservative go-by-the-rules approach. And the beauty of it all is that as time goes on, this transition is becoming more of a joy than a chore.
Further, this transition has left me no choice but to take a closer look at God/Deity/Higher Power, whatever your choice of words. We all-most of us, anyway-have been taught that we were created in God's own "image." If we are to prescribe to this particular theory, then it makes sense that God is a Homo sapien- like being that walks upright on two legs. Moreover, if you and I do as the Good Book directs, we will walk eternally with God in the New Jerusalem, a place where it never grows dark, and the river flows with "milk and honey." I don't know about you, but for me such a place sounds enticing. However, if we are to approach this issue with objectivity minus personal whim, we must consider that we draw our guidelines, our inspirations, from the King James Holy Bible. So, rudimentary reasoning tells us that the King James Holy Bible was translated under the supervision of King James of England. Was King James biased in his translation of Hebrew and Latin scrolls? While no one can say he was biased, no one can say he wasn't. History is told by the victors, the old saying goes.
At this point in my life, I do truly believe that there is a Power higher than mere mortal man, an energy of some sort that factors into the equation of mankind. In addition, this Higher Power could take any one of many forms: human, animal, the
As of August 2007, my relationship with religion was, at best, casual. In fact, the only conventional church I had attended with any degree of regularity was during my grade-school years. Back then, my family resided in Cedartown, Georgia, an hour or so out of Atlanta. During the summer break from school, my twin brother, Randy, and I would travel to McMinnville, Tennessee, approximately seventy-five miles southeast of Nashville, and spend a couple weeks with our paternal grandparents. While vacationing with our grandparents in rural McMinnville, my grandfather Carlos Vinson, grandmother Myrtis Vinson, Randy, and I would attend services at the local Seventh-Day Adventist church, where our grandparents were members. Still, Randy and I particularly enjoyed attending Vacation Bible School, a five-day event (Monday through Friday), which the church featured every summer. While we did study scriptures, the fondest memories I have of Vacation Bible School, actually, are the games we played and the snacks and refreshments we indulged in afterward. It is important to remember that I was in the 8-12-year-old age bracket during the Vacation Bible School era, and my priorities, then, were of a physical-sensory nature, not spiritual.
The 1990s through early 2000 proved to be the proverbial roller coaster ride for me. An abysmal amalgam of a failed try at college, time served in jail for an alcohol-related infraction, lengthy stays in more than one rehab, employment in the adult entertainment industry, and, ultimately, stranded at a dead-end factory job where near slave labor output was demanded a job I loathed I found myself standing at a critical crossroads. I was in my mid 30s, living with my mother, and, as the old country adage goes, it was root-hog or die. With that, I made the decision to return to college and succeed—at all costs! Utilizing commitment, determination, focus, and countless hours of cracking the books, I graduated from Motlow State Community College with an associate's degree in May 2007, with a 3.85 GPA to boot. While achieving my 3.85 GPA, I was fortunate enough to be inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, a crowning moment for me. With my Phi Beta Kappa membership, I applied for and received an academic scholarship to Lee University, a Church of God, liberal arts institution located in Cleveland, Tennessee, just above Chattanooga.
On August 13, 2007, I arrived at Lee University and settled into my campus apartment. Granted, before arriving, I was aware that Lee was a highly religious school that frowned on worldly behavior, but I readily admit that I wasn't ready for the life altering experience I was about to undergo. For example, I was use to smoking two or three packs of cigarettes per day and, also, having an occasional cocktail. However, such were forbidden on Lee campus; failure to adhere to these protocols could result in expulsion. After a period of trial and error, I made the necessary adjustments, and I honestly can say that, these days, I “do not drink” at all and have cut back on my smoking tremendously. Now, 1 go off campus to have a smoke, and as time moves on, my desire to smoke lessens. With my new lifestyle, I am much healthier; thus I am more in tune with the spiritual theme prevalent at Lee University. In a sense, my enrollment at Lee University demanded that I abandon my liberal do-as-I-please attitude and turn to a conservative go-by-the-rules approach. And the beauty of it all is that as time goes on, this transition is becoming more of a joy than a chore.
Further, this transition has left me no choice but to take a closer look at God/Deity/Higher Power, whatever your choice of words. We all-most of us, anyway-have been taught that we were created in God's own "image." If we are to prescribe to this particular theory, then it makes sense that God is a Homo sapien- like being that walks upright on two legs. Moreover, if you and I do as the Good Book directs, we will walk eternally with God in the New Jerusalem, a place where it never grows dark, and the river flows with "milk and honey." I don't know about you, but for me such a place sounds enticing. However, if we are to approach this issue with objectivity minus personal whim, we must consider that we draw our guidelines, our inspirations, from the King James Holy Bible. So, rudimentary reasoning tells us that the King James Holy Bible was translated under the supervision of King James of England. Was King James biased in his translation of Hebrew and Latin scrolls? While no one can say he was biased, no one can say he wasn't. History is told by the victors, the old saying goes.
At this point in my life, I do truly believe that there is a Power higher than mere mortal man, an energy of some sort that factors into the equation of mankind. In addition, this Higher Power could take any one of many forms: human, animal, the