Media Practice/Religious Practices Inquiry

1. Our family apartment back in Myanmar has a few places where we can prayer and do the religious practices. Right beside the living room is a Sanctuary where we prayer, meditate and hold family night devotion. It is our custom in Myanmar that every household should have a sanctuary or the altar for the protection as well as a place of peace and holy. It doesn't matter the size of the house, people would find a place for their place of holy in their tiny houses. When the media comes to our daily lives, yes indeed, it takes important part in our life, yet, many people even could not effort to buy a television. If they could buy such television, radio, computer etc. they would locate these stuffs back in the house. I don't really know the reason why they do not place such media devices back in the house, my assumption for this is; they don't want other people to see that they are rich or they are too materialistic. That's why in living room I only have a computer and a telephone yet the rest of the living room is filled with magazines, journals and other readable stuffs.
Another sacred place for me is the book case. It is the book case where my father's collection of books and my mom books are kept. As my father was a minister he had collected many religious books, therefore, I find that this place is a sacred learning place to me. We have religious posters, icons and crosses hanged on many parts of our family apartment, like in my room and master room. I am not allowed to stick any rock band posters and models' on the wall of my room. :P
We have TV room back in our apartment where the kitchen is right beside it.

Therefore, in general, i would see sacred icons, pictures and posters and religious symbols in front of our house and i would encounter media if I go to the back of my house.

1. 2. The bath room is where I don’t see any religious symbols and sacred thing in my apartment. We dispose our body discharged in bath room which is considered as unclean for such sacred icons and religious symbols. Media is pretty much everywhere in our apartment in many form, i.e, books, journal, magazine, TV, computer, radio, cassette.

2. 3. Especially, in my room because I have my own radio, cassette and computer as well as a cross hang on my wall, many biblical, religious books existing harmoniously in my room. Besides my room, the master bed room, where my mom and my sisters sleep, has both elements.

1. 4. As I have said above, it is important to place a religious symbols or sacred things at right place in our dwelling according our culture. Therefore, we carefully look for a place to hang a cross on the wall or draw a religious symbols or a place for an icon to keep. Usually, the places, where the sacred things are kept, make me feel spiritual and sacred. Yet, it is different story to my room. I would rather go to the sanctuary for my daily devotion and mediation. I don’t feel like it is not too holy in my room, even though, there is much religious stuff in my room.

2. 5. Media! I love to watch TV, listen to radio and my sisters do too. I am more likely to see my sisters praying and meditating then watching TV, and working with their computer. So, it is definitely media that I note more frequently.

3. 6. It is easier for me to remember media then religious symbols. Sometimes, I have a hard time finding my bible, which I am supposed use daily, but I never forget where I put my CDs and Dvds. I think, it is my interests that make me to remember media more than religious symbols. Moreover, I am not very easy to understand the meaning of symbols and paintings but if I listen to a song, I can feel the flow of the song and feelings of the singer and composer.

4. 7. Listening to gospel songs is the simplest meditation method for me. The melodies, the lyrics and the voice of the singer; I can feel and picture the messages what the artists are trying to deliver. Therefore, I see the media encounter is as a source of explicit religious symbolism. Not the actually music player but the essence of the music is the sacred to me.

5. 8. It is a surprise for me to know that, even though I live in poor country where God is the only source to rely on and find peace, I am more into media. One thing is like habit, placing God first in my life, and the other thing is my passion.