I do it Religiously…..

I do it religiously, this is a very common saying either you have said it or know someone else who has said it.  Yet does anyone really do anything with that much routine and determination as the saying suggests?  In today’s society many do not even practice religion religiously.

Now many people do have a regular routine of things like getting ready for work, getting the kids off to school, maybe the route you drive every day.  None of this really has anything to do with what I am getting at but it gets the idea across.  My main point is how do you get yourself set into such a routine.  To get yourself dedicated enough to continue doing something every day without fail.

I am curious about this because several things in my life need to change but I have a real issue setting, maintaining, or even attempting a regular routine.  Now I have heard from people that the key is good support or an accomplish, like a gym buddy, but what do you do if 1) you do not have a support system or 2) you are trying something that does not allow or make possible a support system?

I feel like I do not have time to do everything I want to do.  I have children that consume much of my day as well as the wife and extended family I am a big part of.  Finding time for myself and the things I want or need to accomplish is frustrating.  At times to the point of me just giving up.  Ok really it is always to the point of me giving up.  I just do not try at all.

I have the desire to do these things.  Enough desire to spend the money to get everything I need to learn and practice these arts.  The problem is I lose motivation when I have to fight so much to find the time.  Maybe my time management skills just super suck, or maybe my kids really suck up too much of my time.  Mind you I would not change a thing about my family life.

Maybe I was just raised in such a fast paced society that I do not know how to slow down to fit in things that seem unproductive.  Even though those things make me a better, healthier, or more well-rounded of a person they do not provide anything toward the on-going needs of the household.  They provide for my personal desires only and I have issues being selfish when so many others need my time.

So how do you change your patterns or create patterns where now have existed before?  How do you set yourself into a regular routine that would help you to get toward your goals when those goals are personal in nature?

Connect on Facebook…..

I now have a page dedicated to the blog. You will find new posts listed as well as links to other articles that I have found of interest. Come on over and connect with the official Facebook Page, here The Pagan Monk.

Finding Religion…..

I caught a link today that took me to an interesting post on the Pantheos site. It brought up many thing I have myself found to be issues within my own faith. Timothy points out the issues I have been dealing with in a rather simple way that really gets the point across. I would like to go thru his key points here and give my take on them as we go.

One of the points he makes is the difference between being spiritual and being religious. Basically you can be spiritual and not religious, but you can’t be religious without being spiritual. Well I can agree with that. It is similar to those who think because I am Wiccan I must be a Witch, this is not the case as anyone can be a Witch and they do not have to be Wiccan (more on that latter maybe).

He goes on to say that many Pagans are spiritual but not religious. Describing a religions process as going from ideas to teachings, teachings to communities, and communities to institutions and traditions as the order a religion is born from spirituality to religious. By his description my experience says we are still very much in the ideas/teaching stage even thou we have our share of traditions. In the most common case I have found by tradition we mean a standard set of curriculum that serves as a base to personalize your faith on.

Further he goes on to quote another author, Star. In one of her posts about editing an anthology about her patron deity written by another author she says,

“That is a big damn problem. My faith has become so small and personal that I don’t even know how to begin to communicate with other devotees. I have no larger framework to place my faith in. It is not that my faith is wrong, but that it is stunted and anti-social. It has no manners, no chit-chat, no experience of reaching for common ground.

I know the answer is to find community. To stretch my religious muscles. To find a common Hephaistos and a common religion…I am not the only one. Paganism is full to the brim with solitaries, each with their own deep personal religion, their own mythos. Do you ever find your faith is so small, customized and unique that even among Pagans of like mind you feel completely alone?”

I can sympathize with how she feels here. Other than my immediate family (even with them we do not have much common ground) I do not have any connection or community within my faith. I run a solo path that is very lonely at times. This absence of community has had me looking into mainstream faiths, but they do not provide the spirituality I am looking for even thou they may cover the religious side.

Timothy goes on to say,

“Spirituality (“deep personal religion”) as it matures, grows into public “religion,” into community and doctrine and institution. Otherwise, it cannot cohere, cannot solidify, cannot survive.”

I feel very strongly in regards to this. Now I am not sure if there is no cohesion that we will just die out, but I do think if we do not change we will suffer in the long term. Our biggest weakness right now is the lack of religious community.  Much of this seems to steam from so many practitioners coming from mainstream faiths and wanting to get away from that type of hierarchy. However I feel if we do not start instating some form of leadership, counsel, or board of representatives that we will constantly be overlooked and stepped on.

I am looking for the same end goal as Star in respect to our current situation. I feel we may be in or close to a similar state in our faith and our striving for more. I know I am looking for that gathering of friends and just relating to the like-minded, having somewhere to take the family where my kids can be around other kids of similar upbringing, to have the ability to connect and use others experience, and just make connections.

I do not know if this can be done. It will take someone of great perseverance to pursue and get into motion. It has become a common issue I have seen that when an individual attempts to pursue this concept that the locals will turn on you. I hope that we can get this off the ground and start developing a community that can thrive for generations to come and that it could happen in my life time.

We don’t need clergy ….. or do we?

This has been a topic that I have been doing allot of research on lately. Why you may be wondering, well let me tell you. I have had a drive to be a leading member in the religious community since I was in high school. Allot of that may have to do with my Mother. While I was raised in a Pagan household I was taught to think for myself and to discover my own path no matter where it took me.

I was home schooled through high school and got to choose what additional topics I was interested in. Every chance I got I choose to study religion and mythology. This lead me on a world tour of the great variety of beliefs in our world. While I may consider myself Pagan now, every one of those faiths has had an impact on me. None more so than my constant study and interaction with Buddhism.

I found the most common theme among all these faiths is establishment of leaders that work with the practitioners within their faith. This is the one aspect that I have found lacking if not absent in the Pagan faiths. For the longest time I never saw a problem with this and actually liked the apparent freedom it gave compared to most other faiths.

My views have changed as I have gotten older, wanted more involvement and community, had children, and began performing some services for the community. I have felt even more of a drive to become a part of community as a leader. Well leader is not really the right word here. I want to be a religious figure that is there for the support of the individual and community in whatever capacity needed.

So I started looking at the growth and the available support systems and started to wonder why don’t we have clergy. Sure you can train in a particular tradition and get ranked and initiated as a High Priest/ess, but what do you give back to the people in that role. In the case of what I believe to be the majority, you are confined to your tradition and more often your coven/group. For those outside your tradition you could be completely unknown, unavailable, or helpless when it comes to their needs.

I also looked at what we are missing compared to others more common faiths. The big three are religious counseling, availability to legally perform services (such as weddings), and ability to help those outside your own tradition. I think with our growth these things have become more important than they used to be.

We have begun to acquire a whole new set of Pagans I have heard lovingly referred to as “Lay Pagans”. They fall into the same category along the lines of Lay Buddhists and Holiday Christians. They enjoy the public rituals and celebrating the holidays but do not tend to be more involved than this. While there is nothing wrong with this path who do we have for them to turn to for questions and assistance when they need it?

Now one big argument I see and totally side with is the idea that clergy would try to take over the faith. It would become center on them and we would lose our individuality in our faith. As anyone who has practiced for any considerable amount of time will tell you a key tenant is “Thou art God/dess”. The idea that we are all part of the divine and all can reach it individually without a middle man controlling how we choose to do it.

The second point they make about clergy is the idea of establishing full time clergy to serve these needs, who pay them? Full time clergy in most if not all faiths are paid for devoting their lives to the calling. There is not a Pagan I have meet yet that likes the idea of having to put out money for something they believe is perfectly fine doing on their own. Once again I can see and agree to point.

While both of these are very valid points I think they are both beside the point. They both should be considered before starting such an endeavor. I still think this is something that needs to be brought up and established to continue our growth and strengthen or community as a whole.

Personally I am looking toward the Buddhists for guidance on these issues. I think their monks and monasteries are on the right path and would be an excellent example for what we could achieve if we could all find common ground. I look forward to seeing something similar come of our faith and can’t wait to see what our future holds.

A Bright New Beginning…..

I have come and gone from the blogosphere over the years trying to find my footing. This is my attempt to break into blogging again. Some of my goals here are to produce high quality content and perfect my writing skills. I have a drive to produce and be part of my greater community.

This blog is being built on the “friends chatting” theme and not so much a niche site. However you will see a common theme from me throughout as I am an active Pagan, Monk, Minimalist, Reverend, Student, and Officiate. As well I am a giant geek and huge sci-fi fan. I am sure my geek side will bleed thru at times as well.

I hope to be well accepted and produce on a regular basis. I am sure it will take me awhile to find my grove again and produce regularly so I hope those who find me early with stick with me through the leveling out of my content.

Over the next few months I will be looking at the style and type of content I can bring forth and may have varying changes come and go. Any input on content you like to see would be really appreciated.

Thank you for your interest and support as I work on toward my goals with this blog.