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I am not nor have I ever been a very religious person. I do believe in a "God" but don't subscribe to any particular dogmas.
One thing I've noticed with the retirees I know is that many seem to become increasingly religious and introspective as time passes and they realize they don't have too much time left in this world. I think some were simply too busy with work, raising children, and day to day responsibilities to honestly give religion much thought, and now have more time to attend services, etc.
Did you find yourself become more interested in religion in your old age/retirement? Why or why not?
I have become quite the opposite. I would avoid any religious discussion but now while I still avoid them when cornered, I freely admit to being an Atheist.
I have become quite the opposite. I would avoid any religious discussion but now while I still avoid them when cornered, I freely admit to being an Atheist.
Me too. ^^^
I do think if people have grown up in "afterlife-believing" religions, they might turn more towards that teaching or at least have some ancient fears about "what happens at death." I have a 92-year-old aunt who has gotten more and more staunchly Catholic with age, as she says, "as I'm facing eternity." I point out that she's been saying that for 20 years! but yes, I suppose 92 is closer than earlier years.
Kinda funny story sorta, a wise dear friend of mine who was jewish and a non-believer for most of her adult life, when she was in the throws of failing health and getting closer to death, she made the comment to me: I'll pray to anyone to live longer. She passed at 93 and I think of her wise words given to me all the years I knew her. I met her at the Unitarian Universalist church and we became immediate friends. She had a passion for LIFE.
re: the bolded part above. My 90 year old MIL, a devout Catholic who attended mass every week until she was 87, prays every night that she will die in her sleep ASAP. She says no one should live this long. I guess neither of them had their prayers answered.
But that’s not universal. And I’d argue that while there’s no 1-1 correspondence, the “do you celebrate or merely endure life” question strongly informs our religious views (or lack thereof).
A person with abiding faith in a providential, omnipotent god, might bewail episodic visitation by suffering and injustice, but would be facing an inconsistency if he/she were to view life itself as a raw deal and an unpleasant odyssey to be merely endured. Sure, this life could be a testing-ground for something forthcoming that’s insuperably better. But a person without such faith is free to espouse the negative belief, that life is overall less preferable than its absence, though of course he/she need not at all be necessarily so inclined.
In my own case, I view life as more of a burden and a responsibility, than a joy or a much-welcomed gift. It’s something that I have, something that it incumbent upon me to endure. How it ends – or what, if anything, comes after it – I can not fathom. But most assuredly I don’t have a “passion” for living, let alone for long-life.
Man, that is SO sad. I cannot even fathom this feeling. I love life, and I will live it to the full everyday. If I was religious, which I've said I'm not, I would be infinitely grateful to the creator for the joys that life has given me. I have had sadness, grief, illness, and poverty in my past. I wouldn't give up even those times, for even in the depths of sorrow, there is love. There is a light that says "keep going, this too will pass, and more and better times will come". As a confirmed "science girl", I am overwhelmed by the intricate balance and infinite beauty of nature and the earth. The thought of missing the life all around me is almost unthinkable. I've never been to Afghanistan or Syria, or any of those other places mentioned above, but even there, people are desperate to continue their lives and the lives of their children. The refugees desperately seek life outside of the killing zones.
The only time that I will feel that life is merely something to be endured is when I am beset by an illness of intractable pain, with no possible relief or hope for recovery. At that time I will end my own suffering. NOTE: I am NOT advocating this for others.
Last edited by TheShadow; 06-18-2017 at 09:42 AM..
Well put, our town didn't have a catholic school or I would have been pushed there. The closest catholic school was about 10 miles away and no way back then would parents drive that for schooling. You got my rep.
I realized one day, listening to some beautiful music which drew you into a spiritual place, that I'd never really been 'religious'. I went to the Episcopal church as a kid, and still find some of the ceremony very spiritual. But I found my truth in wicca. I feel Her, and she is there as she always was. I just hadn't broken down the barriers of concrete 'religion' yet.
I still consider myself wiccan, but I do my own ceremony, and tend to avoid others who argue about the 'right' way to do ceremony.
I see all 'religions' as human perceptions of spirit, wrapped around the symbols we assign meaning to. There is no 'right' way. I see all 'religions' as a human creation, each trying to explain spirit in words and politics. I more appreciate places with a great undefined spiritual feel, like a river washing into a lake which is being born, and the absense of anything but nature. I hold close as symbols things which come from nature, especially rocks which hold the vibration.
We are all part of spirit, but we must choose to embrase it. Its by a cross or a rock or a quiet natural place it comes from the same source.
We would all be much better off if we embrased spirit over 'religion' and the politics which uses it.
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