Autonomy in spiritual practice can be a good thing.
Too many times, religion was wielded as a tool for power and control over me, used by my own parents and my partner’s family to dictate beliefs and enforce obedience through fear and lies.
Those experiences with what felt like manipulative or hypocritical individuals were far from pleasant. I was disheartened, causing me to shun religions for years, as I found it sickening how everything said and done by those people seemed to come with an ulterior motive, words of God twisted to their own agenda.
Yet, after some time, I yearned for spiritual guidance, but I want to do it on my own terms. My conversion was a deeply personal choice, made after extensive reading and without external influence, precisely because I felt I could always verify what was being taught and what was expected of me.
Indeed, things are much better with self-directed spiritual exploration, free from external pressures and fear-based doctrines. I’m not saying that this is what others in the church is doing. This is my personal approach to religion: staying connected spiritually on my own terms. I find this method particularly beneficial for my anxiety, as being forced into rigid practices would do more harm than good.
I agree. Having been a traditional pastor it was very liberating to be freed from hierarchical religion. I have a much deeper relationship with God now than I did in those days.
It's good to hear that you now have a deeper relationship with God. Rigid practices are certainly not for everyone.
There used to be a priest in my church who was quite 'flexible,' I guess you could say, in that he understood the lifestyle of a secular, modern society. This made it much easier to open up to him, especially during confession.
He was transferred to another state and replaced by someone who, while also a good person and very polite in his speech, for me, followed everything to the letter with almost no allowance. I almost had a meltdown coming out from confession with him. It wasn't that he scolded me or anything; it was just me.
This is important to clarify because I don't want to create any misunderstanding, as there's already too much negativity in the press.
This made me reluctant to go for confession again, and I felt bad about it. Thank goodness my good friend from America, who also shares the same faith, explained to me how I could practice in ways that were comfortable and worked for me. I'm glad for that.
This is why I think flexibility in spiritual practice is so important, or it could just push people away.
Autonomy in spiritual practice can be a good thing.
Too many times, religion was wielded as a tool for power and control over me, used by my own parents and my partner’s family to dictate beliefs and enforce obedience through fear and lies.
Those experiences with what felt like manipulative or hypocritical individuals were far from pleasant. I was disheartened, causing me to shun religions for years, as I found it sickening how everything said and done by those people seemed to come with an ulterior motive, words of God twisted to their own agenda.
Yet, after some time, I yearned for spiritual guidance, but I want to do it on my own terms. My conversion was a deeply personal choice, made after extensive reading and without external influence, precisely because I felt I could always verify what was being taught and what was expected of me.
Indeed, things are much better with self-directed spiritual exploration, free from external pressures and fear-based doctrines. I’m not saying that this is what others in the church is doing. This is my personal approach to religion: staying connected spiritually on my own terms. I find this method particularly beneficial for my anxiety, as being forced into rigid practices would do more harm than good.
I agree. Having been a traditional pastor it was very liberating to be freed from hierarchical religion. I have a much deeper relationship with God now than I did in those days.
It's good to hear that you now have a deeper relationship with God. Rigid practices are certainly not for everyone.
There used to be a priest in my church who was quite 'flexible,' I guess you could say, in that he understood the lifestyle of a secular, modern society. This made it much easier to open up to him, especially during confession.
He was transferred to another state and replaced by someone who, while also a good person and very polite in his speech, for me, followed everything to the letter with almost no allowance. I almost had a meltdown coming out from confession with him. It wasn't that he scolded me or anything; it was just me.
This is important to clarify because I don't want to create any misunderstanding, as there's already too much negativity in the press.
This made me reluctant to go for confession again, and I felt bad about it. Thank goodness my good friend from America, who also shares the same faith, explained to me how I could practice in ways that were comfortable and worked for me. I'm glad for that.
This is why I think flexibility in spiritual practice is so important, or it could just push people away.