Faith matters most when times get tough, and that's true no matter what path you follow. I had a little spiritual trial of my own recently, and while it wasn't any fun at the time (these things never are), it showed me that I'm not just some dreamer with airy-fairy notions. Nope, as odd as my beliefs might be to some, they've got staying power.
You see, I don't follow a traditional religion. In fact, I don't call it a "religion" at all. Some might call it New Age (insert eye-roll here), but if you must label it, then I'm comfortable lumping my practice in with what is often referred to as Neo-Pagan. That's quite a motley group, let me tell you, but for me it boils down to a reverence and respect for the physical, natural world, a celebration of ritual and a belief in the sacred connections among everything in existence. Wow, that's deep, right? I know some of you are already cooking up challenges to all that, but let's save those nuggets for another post.
Back to my spiritual trial. A week ago, my mother ended up in the hospital with another recurrence of a chronic health condition. She was stable, but the reality of my own helplessness and my mother's frailty hit me like a lead weight. Now mix in additional projects at work with tight budgets and long hours. My situation isn't special; we've all been there, sometimes time and time again. What was different for me was my reaction.
I remember collapsing at home from exhaustion, my nerves frayed and wrestling with that feeling of panic that says you just can't take anything more. Then a little voice said, "If any of that newfangled spiritual stuff is worth anything, now's the time to use it!" (Yes, that's verbatim.) Regardless of our particular faith, when we're in a difficult situation, we all reach out for the same things: for hope that things can get better, for comfort and a sense of peace. So I did, and it worked, and that was especially satisfying because I'm relatively new to this spiritual path I'm on.
For most of my life, I've been a Christian. But now I don't have a deity to whom I pray for healing or help. People have even asked me how I cope in difficult situations, with the underlying assumption that I would return to the flock, so to speak, when the going got tough. Their concern is genuine and appreciated, but my little test showed me that I'm doing just fine.
It isn't important to explain what I did specifically to find my inner happy place. What I found most interesting was that it really wasn't all that different from what I used to do as a Christian. The words may be different: "meditate" instead of "pray," for example. But stripped of all the embellishments, people of faith -- any faith -- follow the same essential steps: stop, breathe, take a broader perspective and let go. That's true whether you're on your knees praying in church or casting a magickal circle under the shade of a tree.
I think there's a lesson here for us all but especially for those of us who follow a spiritual path that we often have to defend against ridicule and misunderstanding. To them I say take heart, have faith, and hang in there.
Wes Isley: A Tribute to Neopagan Visionary Isaac Bonewits (1949-2010)
Wes Isley: Native American Religion: For Members Only?
Grove Harris: The Spiritual Meaning of the Summer Solstice
Just like you said, Christians worship a single deity, you don't worship any. This is where it stops.
I personally would like to worship trees or the Big Blue Sky, like Ghenghis Khan.
Trouble is 2000 years of Catholic theology can be pretty persuading. It would be way
more fun to be a wiccan, make up my own ritual and have sex in the woods with hot little nymphs.
Trouble is there is plenty of evidence Jesus was real and is alive. And many many people including myself have had visions of Heaven and Hell- what are you Neo pagans gonna do on judgement day?
Wait - that's all that religion is able to do - isn't it? No wonder it's such a load of garbage.
As for judgement day - that doesn't exist either, so THIS pagan isn't gonna do anything!
Do you find reason to disobey your holy text? Fine. Rewrite the text; forget about Leviticus altogether and dwell exclusively on the Sermon on the Mount.
Have you committed an obvious sin according to what is written in the Bible? Cool. Just as for forgiveness and all is forgiven. Caltholic priests will forgive you just before they go to the Rectory to seduce a choir boy.
Have you grown tired of Jesus and want to go with the Egyptian Sun God, Ra? Ra will welcome you with open sun burns and he'll take care of Jesus if he objects.
It's wonderful being a hypocrite . . . with god's blessing.
Religions are like an interface, like an operating system. But the hardware is universal.
What you ignore is that faith -- or not-- is immaterial to that. It is what PEOPLE do. They either deal with stuff or they don't.
Some of us don't rummage around in our heads for some extra "beliefs" to add to the extra stuff we're dealing with. Some do. In the final analysis, there's no evidence that there's only you inside your head deciding "WTF am I going to do about this situation?"
Dealing with sick relatives (or our own illness) is no walk in the park (skyclad or not :-) ) but that's part of the human condition. We do the best we can and some have more strength for the struggle than others. In the end, we all go into that final darkness and our brief candle is extinguished.
That's no reason not to enjoy what bit of light we have while we and others are alive.
Michael
Merry Meet -
You're wasting everyone's time.
I dont get it, basically, your religion is 'relaxing'?
And "hipster" is relative, always used by others to denigrate another faith not their own. Many people convert to Christianity and Islam around the world. Buddhism, too, which is a very difficult religion in many respects if you follow some particular brands of it.
And I'm glad you think I'm a "hipster"--does wonders for my ego!
May the love of the Goddess be ever in your heart.
Merry meet.