- Messages
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- Port Aransas, Tx, USA
Stone posted on a thread I started in the "Lifestyle" section so I thought I would start this thread in the "Spirituality" section. I see that it has been hinted upon on here so I thought I'd just put it out there.
First...Please let me say this. This is a personal choice. If you disagree, please, don't try to "preach" to me about the error of my ways and recruit me into your church.
I grew up in a Baptist church. Attended every Sunday. As has been posted, we are raised to believe in good versus evil, sinners and saints. That we are punished for our sins. In as much, at some point, most of us have been told that if we just "prayed harder, went to church more, said or did something to prove our faith to or in God better" we would get better faster, feel better, be healed.
Now, having said that, please don't mistake that for my only reasonings for my choices. I am only sharing with you because, well, just because.
Since having been diagnosed with ME/CFS, fibro and everything else that goes along with that, that I personally have, I have done a lot of "soul searching" and a lot of praying, reading, etc.
There has been one religion (or should I say one way of thinking) that has brought me peace. It is not a Christian religion. It isn't for everybody. I'm not asking or pushing this on everybody...that's not why I'm writing this. I'm writing this because I'm trying to give you my experience in how I came to be "at peace" with my illness.
Through my research and lessons...that of course were on my own because so much of what we do is....I came across a person who (just in the way she saw others and how she treated herself and others) taught me that life is not just about living trying not to do something that someone else sees as a sin. We talked for a long time. I finally asked her how/why/where she came to be so peaceful with herself and others and how to accept herself for who she is for good or bad....I use "peaceful" for lack of a better word. As we all know, a person cannot be "at peace" all the time...heck I threw a "screaming meemee" just the other day that would have burned your ears and retinas!
Now, here is where a lot of Christians and people of other religions will be offended. I ask that you keep an open mind. I don't judge you so I ask that you not judge others. The religion that she chose is a Pagan religion. I did a lot of research. While I do not formally claim any religion, so to speak, I do recognize that there are a lot of things that can help us on our journey to finding peace within ourselves and help us get through the self doubt and self recrimination that only serves to hurt us more in the end.
For instance....if we are feeling unwell and are in a "trough" of our "peaks and troughs" of feeling well and unwell and are sick and...well, just feeling like crap. We're laying there, wondering what we did wrong previously to make ourselves so sick now.
How is that something that will get us out of that "trough"? Should we not be putting what little energy we do have, especially when we are ill with the flu or pneumonia or some other illness, into getting back to a "peak"?
In using the things I read while researching my friend's religion, and others like it, I have rid myself (well, we can never truly rid ourself completely when raised with one set of beliefs - they do creep back in sometimes) of feeling like I"ve done something wrong to deserve this illness. It is what it is. All I can do is deal with it now. If I truly did do something wrong and this is my punishment, I accept that. I don't believe it to be true. If that's the case, we have all done some pretty bad things because this is a very nasty disease.
Do you truly believe that someone with AIDS has done something to deserve their illness? Diabetes? Cancer? NO? The same applies to us.
It is a simple matter of biology....well, maybe not a "simple" matter but you get my meaning.
We have to accept what and who we are, what we have....and work to make ourselves feel better on an hourly, daily, weekly basis.
There are a lot of things in a lot of religions that people can argue about. If it works for you. Great! The thing is this....Don't presume that someone isn't doing something or enough of something to heal themselves or so that any one God or Goddess will heal them.
Be you of Pagan, Christian, or any other religion, please try to remember, you do NOT deserve this illness. None of us do. No matter what your preacher, priest, friend, family member, neighbor or a complete stranger says.
The more at peace we are the better equipped we are to deal with the changes in our illness. We don't have the excess energy to allow someone else to make us feel something that will take away from our getting ourselves out of bed every day and attending to our own activities of daily living.
Well, alrighty then....I didn't mean this to be so long. I just felt the need to weigh in on a topic that has been bothering me for a while.
Kimberly
First...Please let me say this. This is a personal choice. If you disagree, please, don't try to "preach" to me about the error of my ways and recruit me into your church.
I grew up in a Baptist church. Attended every Sunday. As has been posted, we are raised to believe in good versus evil, sinners and saints. That we are punished for our sins. In as much, at some point, most of us have been told that if we just "prayed harder, went to church more, said or did something to prove our faith to or in God better" we would get better faster, feel better, be healed.
Now, having said that, please don't mistake that for my only reasonings for my choices. I am only sharing with you because, well, just because.
Since having been diagnosed with ME/CFS, fibro and everything else that goes along with that, that I personally have, I have done a lot of "soul searching" and a lot of praying, reading, etc.
There has been one religion (or should I say one way of thinking) that has brought me peace. It is not a Christian religion. It isn't for everybody. I'm not asking or pushing this on everybody...that's not why I'm writing this. I'm writing this because I'm trying to give you my experience in how I came to be "at peace" with my illness.
Through my research and lessons...that of course were on my own because so much of what we do is....I came across a person who (just in the way she saw others and how she treated herself and others) taught me that life is not just about living trying not to do something that someone else sees as a sin. We talked for a long time. I finally asked her how/why/where she came to be so peaceful with herself and others and how to accept herself for who she is for good or bad....I use "peaceful" for lack of a better word. As we all know, a person cannot be "at peace" all the time...heck I threw a "screaming meemee" just the other day that would have burned your ears and retinas!
Now, here is where a lot of Christians and people of other religions will be offended. I ask that you keep an open mind. I don't judge you so I ask that you not judge others. The religion that she chose is a Pagan religion. I did a lot of research. While I do not formally claim any religion, so to speak, I do recognize that there are a lot of things that can help us on our journey to finding peace within ourselves and help us get through the self doubt and self recrimination that only serves to hurt us more in the end.
For instance....if we are feeling unwell and are in a "trough" of our "peaks and troughs" of feeling well and unwell and are sick and...well, just feeling like crap. We're laying there, wondering what we did wrong previously to make ourselves so sick now.
How is that something that will get us out of that "trough"? Should we not be putting what little energy we do have, especially when we are ill with the flu or pneumonia or some other illness, into getting back to a "peak"?
In using the things I read while researching my friend's religion, and others like it, I have rid myself (well, we can never truly rid ourself completely when raised with one set of beliefs - they do creep back in sometimes) of feeling like I"ve done something wrong to deserve this illness. It is what it is. All I can do is deal with it now. If I truly did do something wrong and this is my punishment, I accept that. I don't believe it to be true. If that's the case, we have all done some pretty bad things because this is a very nasty disease.
Do you truly believe that someone with AIDS has done something to deserve their illness? Diabetes? Cancer? NO? The same applies to us.
It is a simple matter of biology....well, maybe not a "simple" matter but you get my meaning.
We have to accept what and who we are, what we have....and work to make ourselves feel better on an hourly, daily, weekly basis.
There are a lot of things in a lot of religions that people can argue about. If it works for you. Great! The thing is this....Don't presume that someone isn't doing something or enough of something to heal themselves or so that any one God or Goddess will heal them.
Be you of Pagan, Christian, or any other religion, please try to remember, you do NOT deserve this illness. None of us do. No matter what your preacher, priest, friend, family member, neighbor or a complete stranger says.
The more at peace we are the better equipped we are to deal with the changes in our illness. We don't have the excess energy to allow someone else to make us feel something that will take away from our getting ourselves out of bed every day and attending to our own activities of daily living.
Well, alrighty then....I didn't mean this to be so long. I just felt the need to weigh in on a topic that has been bothering me for a while.
Kimberly
).