Oddly enough, I'm one of the most skeptical people you'll find, although I tend to define it better as "pragmatic" (I've experienced that, so I know it exists, I've yet to experience/find significant evidence for that, so I don't believe in it/have my doubts).
Yeah, the problem with ancestor worship is the fact that some of your ancestors... were, well, not people worthy of worship. I do not honor my mother's father, for instance. It's a tricky skill and mindset to master, certainly, and it definitely comes more easily to some people (fruitcakes such as myself).
What do I gain? I don't rightly know. I've never gone without. My spiritual and religious beliefs have always existed in some form and I've noticed that the stronger they were and the closer I felt to Deity, the happier and more fulfilled I've felt, whereas the times in my life I've felt the shittiest and coldest, I've felt the farthest away. There have been utterly horrible fucking times in my life since I've converted, of course, but I think that my faith and spiritual connections have offered me a far better framework to cope with and handle them. I know that if it wasn't for the Gods, I'd have been dead several times over by now.
I feel the need to stress that just because this is the way I am and the way things work for me, I don't think that it will automatically work for other people and I would never seek to push my beliefs on anyone and I really hope it doesn't come across that way. Few things turn me off like someone describing a lifestyle (whether it be of a particular religion or something like vegetarianism) and while they don't openly convert you, they never seem to shut the fuck up with their smug smarm about how much better their lives are with it and maybe...? Wink wink! I reiterate my hope that I never come across that way because that is absolutely not my intention.
Yeah, the problem with ancestor worship is the fact that some of your ancestors... were, well, not people worthy of worship. I do not honor my mother's father, for instance. It's a tricky skill and mindset to master, certainly, and it definitely comes more easily to some people (fruitcakes such as myself).
What do I gain? I don't rightly know. I've never gone without. My spiritual and religious beliefs have always existed in some form and I've noticed that the stronger they were and the closer I felt to Deity, the happier and more fulfilled I've felt, whereas the times in my life I've felt the shittiest and coldest, I've felt the farthest away.
There have been utterly horrible fucking times in my life since I've converted, of course, but I think that my faith and spiritual connections have offered me a far better framework to cope with and handle them. I know that if it wasn't for the Gods, I'd have been dead several times over by now.
I feel the need to stress that just because this is the way I am and the way things work for me, I don't think that it will automatically work for other people and I would never seek to push my beliefs on anyone and I really hope it doesn't come across that way.
Few things turn me off like someone describing a lifestyle (whether it be of a particular religion or something like vegetarianism) and while they don't openly convert you, they never seem to shut the fuck up with their smug smarm about how much better their lives are with it and maybe...? Wink wink!
I reiterate my hope that I never come across that way because that is absolutely not my intention.
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