Living Daily Your Beliefs

I have spent the majority of my adult live in the service of others. My chosen career path is that of 'maintenance', structural, commercial, and industrial mostly. I enrolled in classes and took courses to learn electrical, plumbing, boilers and steam systems and studied with carpenters, cabinet builders, painters, wall paper and dry wall installers, all to better my knowledge and further my experience is achieving the best methods and practice that I could offer. From my 'tinkering' with household appliances to my certifications in auto mechanics, I enjoy what I do in maintenance.

I have another vocation, based a lot on my career choice, and my faith. It is another 'maintenance' position in life as well. Through this vocation, I am allowed to help others, honored to assist in the maintainability of proper function of others. I am a Priest. It was not an over night decision, and it took many years (and still does) to learn the required techniques and information that this vocation calls for. Courses in psychology, sociology, religious science, history, comparative religious studies, all just to be able to perform one function of a Priest.

The comparison of maintenance man and clergyman in my daily life, helps me to teach others how to better serve themselves and their communities. You see, in maintenance, we are not always 'repair men'. The actions we take in maintenance is to ensure continual operations or sustainability, which can be done quite often by a 'tweak' here or a 'support' there. Rarely do we need to repair or rebuild what it is we are working on. A Priest does the same, only with different tools and much more complicated subject matter. The clergy help maintain individuals strength in faith, education of religious custom, and foster a desired outcome, or product, that the religion and the community desire. These are just the aspect of councilor and instructor for a Priest, There is ever so much more...

Each religion relies on a basic set of principal beliefs, an understanding of Deity or Divine Presence of Being, has a set of customs or rituals, and in short holds a traditional concept in how one should live and interact with others. There is a lot to understand, much information to retain, and many protocols to learn, adopt and practice. The only way that I have found to achieve this, is to honestly live it on a daily basis. Every act becomes a sacred ritual for me then, every word then becomes a blessing toward others. We live our religious beliefs in our lives beyond holding ceremony, observing the Holy Days, or in study of our religious works. Your religion is not 'what' you are or 'who' you are, but 'what' you do and 'how' you live.

We each have daily rituals in life; from waking up, washing, eating, working, playing, and going to bed. Connect those simple mundane things, in your mind and spirit, and recreate that religious understanding of the Divine Within. Every act will become less mundane, and will acquire a more sacred meaning in your life. The simplest ways to live a Spiritual path, is to live simply believing that we are Spiritual creatures. It takes no more time to do it, than all the time you want. It is easy to do, with the mindset of achieving it, and it will only take a lifetime to master.

Many journeys await you, greet them with eager anticipation for the lessons that they will give you.

I AM LIVID

 Anyone who has met me can tell you one thing, I am mostly straight forward about my observations and reserved about my opinions. Anyone who has spent a day with me can tell you that I am blunt yet not brutal, and handle a lot of things with an amount of diplomacy and patience to see things through to the end. And everyone who has spent at least a week around me can testify to my position on standing on my principals, holding to my oaths, and 'walking my talk'. So when people mistake me for some run of the mill so and so, I have to remind myself that they have not had the benefits of experience about my person, nor fair warning of my personality.

     I have been recently offended and internally injured. My ethical standards attacked, my Faith tested, and my service as clergy belittled and questioned. Normally this combination of events and affronts would not phase me so, however, due to the personage of this individual who has made the ill fated mistake of performing it, I AM LIVID. 

     This was not a 'concerned family member trying to save my soul', that I have always dealt with through my teachings, and usually theirs as well, with tact and diplomacy, respect and understanding. This was not some random stranger to my faith or religious beliefs, for they too I handle quite well and help inform or educate them, or the very least accept our differences and agree to disagree. This was a supposed educated, experienced and fellow practitioner of a Pagan faith.

     One who tried to convince me I was at odds with my teachings. That I was in breach of Ordains, By-Laws and contracts as a clergy-member. That I was being disrespectful, one the verge of attacking or shunning them. That I was refusing advise and council, even friendship. There was only one, slightly important, mistake... That this person was not only wrong, that this person not only openly lied, that this person mistakenly implied threats... no non of that really. It was that this person not only made the mistake to blatantly attack me, it's that I will not tolerate that kind of action by someone who supposedly knows better and that they consider themselves my equal or better! This person will be held accountable.