it feels like that's becoming a minority these days, especially amongst my generation. I wonder what changed.
I agree! I have noticed it too, more and more people of our age seem to be turning towards faith. I also wonder what has changed. It was not like this a few years ago, but now there are people trying to hook in to a higher power everywhere. Less organisational, more spirit driven.
Psychiatry boils it down to having no hope and finding it again through belief. Brain chemistry
😉 Meditation was not a valid treatment in 2004, but it is now. Watch how they cash in on it.
Humans are very strange to me in how we like to arrogantly distinguish ourselves from the rest of the animals by believing we have a higher meaning.
It depends on the faith. The Lords prayer "may your kingdom come, your will be done" translates to
some as - put us into this world as the animals are, living each moment for what it is, at the will of creation. Some consider that to be Heaven.
Lots of popular mindfulness meditation is based on no more than living with only awareness of that moment. As the animals are. (But I have to say, in working with so many animals, they can be corruptible too!)
No offense intended, that's just my belief.
Never any taken
🙂 And I hope none taken on your side either. It would be a bloody boring discussion forum if we all agreed. The art is in discussing without hatred, which seems to be getting lost (at times just because people read a post in a tone it is not intended in, coming into it looking for a fight, which you're not).
In year one of High school we were told to go to church, being a Quaker a church was against my religion all the crass finery of the church. But being forced to sing and pray got my back up. A kid of 9 telling adults that I refused to go to church didn't go down well. They were full of threats until I mentioned religious persecution by them. Yep those were the days.
The same thing happened to me. I was baptised Catholic and by that, when I identified like that, it was against the religion to practice another. But it did expose me to other religions, it did expose me to more, and it did change my religion, which is probably why it is against the religion. I was so mad as, an 8 year old, that I couldn't take communion at a Lutheran church. I remember saying to some of the "born in" Jehovahs witnesses that I was at times, jealous of them - they were un-corrupted, they didn't have to find their way back, they were safe within their community living quite a care free life. Absolutely solid in their belief, which I found admirable.
Are you able to share more on being a Quaker? Are you still? I had read a bit and considered going to a meeting before, but I wasn't sure how. It is very interesting and in some ways a bit like my meditation - when things come to me they come through me. I just don't do well in crowds.
The Bible, to me, is not mans word but mans observation of God. Different translations can skew this. Forms of study can also skew this. I have a hard time trusting what is taught over what is known within.
I always say that if I had to pick a religion,
Can anyone pick a religion if they truly believe? Or are you lead to it? That's another point of interest for me - I would pick Catholic but it has not worked out (I adore tradition, its like a dance in worship) yet where I am now feels "right", like the path is not so hard. Less force, more flow.
