Mirleny Agreda

On embracing God but rejecting Catholicism: Ever since I was little, my mother talked to me about God. I honestly couldn’t tell you one specific moment, but from a very young age she made sure that He was always present in my life.

During my teenage years, although God was always present in my life, we went through a very difficult family situation, and I had to live without my parents for about a year. The Bible became my greatest ally. With my sisters, I would read it and always found an answer for the anxiety I was feeling at that moment, or the strength I needed. I found it by reading the Bible.

I’ve never felt that God wasn’t there, but my faith did weaken right after I graduated. I had grown tired of the Catholic Church’s rules and impositions. My faith, you could say, became weaker. I also stopped turning to that connection with God as much. Rules like having to confess to a priest, attending Mass every week—those are the kinds of obligations the Catholic Church places on its believers.

I try to do with my children what my mother did with me. I talk with them about God, that He is here with us, and I pray with them so they can learn to communicate with Him directly. I say “directly” because one of the reasons I reject the Catholic Church is that I don’t believe I need an intermediary—such as a saint or the Virgin Mary—to communicate with God. And by saying this, I don’t mean to attack the Catholic Church, because everyone is free to believe and connect with God in whatever way they choose.

On embracing the music of Bob Marley: So I’ve started listening to Bob Marley a lot again since then. And the thing is, all of his lyrics—all of them—are still relevant to what’s happening in the world today.

I’ve been listening to Bob Marley since I was little because of my father, who’s a true reggae lover. He loves reggae, so there was always reggae playing in our house, especially Bob Marley. Because I connected so deeply with his music, even before I understood the words, I became very interested in translating the lyrics. That gave me another lesson that has stayed with me throughout my life.

The message is love, peace, justice. The music has changed me a great deal. Especially because I now work with music myself. I feel a very special love for music. Besides teaching me so many things, it gives me the opportunity, through my work, to reach many people. Whether they realize they need a message or not, music has the power to connect people with music.