On the 7th of January 2018, I experienced the greatest culture shock of my lifetime in a Sunday-service event at a Pentecostal Church. Traditionally, I have attended services in the Catholic Church and other conservative churches in which people worship procedurally and reservedly. Here I was in the middle of a crowd dancing, shouting, jumping, and praising God to the top of their voices then suddenly descending into solemn worship in which some people even cried.
I attended the Catholic Church
In which the fundamental beliefs include a strong belief in God, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and savior of mankind, the Holy Spirit and in summation the Holy Trinity that is signified in the sign of the cross – In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Through a fixed church service order, the Priest leads the Holy Mass that begins with confessions of sins, prayers, the reading of the Bible, Sermon, confession of faith, the Holy Eucharist, and thanksgiving before closure. These events take place in somber moods where people behave in rather reserved and disciplined ways.
Pentecostal church
Gave me the shock of my lifetime. I experienced two extremes – extreme joy and extreme solemnity. The choir was jovial. The choir master geared people up to a praise session… "Shout for God! Sing for God! Clap for God! Jump for God!" These went through the church loud speaker systems as people sang to joyous music and dance. After about thirty minutes, the whole session transformed into worship in which the choir maintained a solemn song while people worshiped loudly, some crying to God, and others glorifying the name of God.
These two systems of worship are all perfect in nature. Cultural relativism provides for the understanding of beliefs, values, and practices based on one's Culture rather than another's. While Catholics believe in discipline and order in worship, Pentecostals do not. All the same, both have grown to believe in their expressions to God in unique ways.
The Looking Glass Self by Charles Horton Cooley
In the construction of the Looking Glass Self theory by Charles Horton Cooley, humans, behavioral dispositions, and self concept and image develop from their interactions with others. This occurs in three steps that begin with an imagination and assumptions on our appearance to other people. This is followed by imagination of the judgments people make of us in relation to the way we appear to them. Lastly, we degenerate this into feelings others have about us, which ends up guiding our personal behaviors.
In many ways, others can have a great influence on the way individuals view themselves. In a group of teenagers, a boy who always scores a goal when playing soccer can be considered talented. In an attempt to match up to such talent, the boy may train from time to time and end up remaining an outstanding soccer player. On the other hand, a student who fails in exams twice may be convinced that they cannot pass any examination because they are failures. This may come from the belief that the teacher and fellow students have judged and determined that the said student is a washout. As a result, the student may be depressed and disillusioned to the extent of stopping to make academic effort to perform.
My own life has a clear reflection of the Looking Glass Self theory of how others have affected my self-perception and self-image. Having excelled in my high school examinations, most of my nieces and nephews believed I was exceptional. As I joined university, many of them would ask me if I had a job and when I would buy a car. Son, they believed I had all the money in the world and could help them in various ways. To maintain this perception, I rented a car every time I visited them in boarding schools. As well, I left them substantive amounts of pocket money at school. I did not want their image of my success and the fact that performing well in school leads to success to be distorted.
