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I'm putting on a festival tomorrow. I had been really excited about it, but a bunch of pieces fell apart at the last second, and now I'm trying very VERY hard not to turn into a giant ball of stress. It's brought to mind some conflicting messages, and I'm not sure what I believe...
From one half of my spiritual community, I hear that the Gods want us to enjoy honoring Them. If there is no more joy in Their worship, then They don't want it anymore. So, according to that paradigm, me (and all the other participants) having a good time tomorrow is more important than whether or not we have the right number of people for each part of the ritual, or whether or not we have the right materials to get things done correctly.
From the other half of my spiritual community, I hear that the Gods want us to do what They want us to do, and as long as we do it They don't care whether or not we're happy about it. The precise number of people in a given ritual may or may not be important, but accomplishing what the ritual is supposed to accomplish *is* important, so if I don't have enough people I damn well better find a way to do it without them. And if that leaves me stressed out and frazzled, that's ok with Them, as long as the end result is what they wanted.
I suppose one could argue that what the Gods *really* want is for us to do what They want *and* be happy. But sometimes that's really really hard. Really hard. I don't really believe that the Gods don't care whether or not we are happy when we serve Them, but I also don't believe that They want us to be happy all the time. Sometimes we have to do things that really suck, and it doesn't matter how much we don't want to do those things; we have to do them anyway.
So I guess I don't agree with either side of that spectrum, and find myself somewhere in the middle instead. I guess I'm just getting kind of annoyed by people on either side trying (perhaps unintentionally) to pound their paradigm into my head.
I might have company next week. I really, really hope I have company next week. I need it.
And then off to Norway... Gods help me...
From one half of my spiritual community, I hear that the Gods want us to enjoy honoring Them. If there is no more joy in Their worship, then They don't want it anymore. So, according to that paradigm, me (and all the other participants) having a good time tomorrow is more important than whether or not we have the right number of people for each part of the ritual, or whether or not we have the right materials to get things done correctly.
From the other half of my spiritual community, I hear that the Gods want us to do what They want us to do, and as long as we do it They don't care whether or not we're happy about it. The precise number of people in a given ritual may or may not be important, but accomplishing what the ritual is supposed to accomplish *is* important, so if I don't have enough people I damn well better find a way to do it without them. And if that leaves me stressed out and frazzled, that's ok with Them, as long as the end result is what they wanted.
I suppose one could argue that what the Gods *really* want is for us to do what They want *and* be happy. But sometimes that's really really hard. Really hard. I don't really believe that the Gods don't care whether or not we are happy when we serve Them, but I also don't believe that They want us to be happy all the time. Sometimes we have to do things that really suck, and it doesn't matter how much we don't want to do those things; we have to do them anyway.
So I guess I don't agree with either side of that spectrum, and find myself somewhere in the middle instead. I guess I'm just getting kind of annoyed by people on either side trying (perhaps unintentionally) to pound their paradigm into my head.
I might have company next week. I really, really hope I have company next week. I need it.
And then off to Norway... Gods help me...