Day 124 of writing every day.
Finding what’s good for you is a positive thing to be proud of. Some people find it to be so life changing that they decide to share their experiences with others. I mean why keep something great a secret that only you know? Some people feel they have to share it with the world. And that’s okay I think, until they decide that everyone should start following their example. This could appear with varying degrees of righteousness, but unless the interest is shared I find it’s just barking up the wrong tree.
For me, my mother has been a Christian even though she didn’t really attend church services when I was still young. She started attending church but I think it was a mostly white congregation, and soon changed to a Chinese Christian church group when she learned there was one. Maybe white Jesus didn’t seem to fit with her practices and Chinese Jesus and the Chinese people were a better match, but I kid. Ethnic background does play a big role even if claiming to follow the same religion as there are many denominations within major religions. Sometimes the differences are so stark, it’s hard to believe they accept the same God.
Anyways, while religion is a very public matter to many, others prefer to keep it a private practice. I for one detest the zealous missionary types who believe they hold the absolute truth as the most extreme forms of them resort to violence and other unsavory methods to enforce their views on others.
My mother thankfully kept her religion to herself while I was young but my eldest brother had converted years ago and joined the same Chinese congregation as an adult. I don’t really care for organized religion, and no amount of pamphlets will change that. If anything, organized religion is less about the spiritual practice and quest for some form of enlightenment and more about the communal aspects of bringing different people together. That to me kind of cheapens the spiritual meaning of religion at the personal level, and I don’t need the religious aspect included in the communal activities I choose to engage in.
Religion is good for those who embrace it sincerely and I’m glad that it’s given my mother things to do and people to hangout with in retirement. But what worked for her doesn’t mean it will work for me. Force-feeding me tiny bits of religion or trying to nudge me towards it isn’t going to do anything. I hope one day she just accepts that I’ll believe whatever I want and that is something I don’t need her input on. I know she means well, but it’s not the sort of help I’m looking for.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 