Recently I attended a Christian (non denominational) service as part of my ongoing belief that perhaps we should be tolerant of other religions. I’m not suggesting we have to agree with them or always attend everyone else’s services but now and again I like to spread my wings and experience the spiritual rituals of other religions. Why you ask? Because it helps me affirm that I am in the right religion for me. 

This particular service was run by a very good friend of mine who runs a Christian church in the middle of outback South Australia. He’s a minister of a fairly ‘middle of the road’ denomination and he’s also the visiting pastor on our remote mine site and as part of that he runs interfaith services for the folk working away from home with us. A fantastic man who brings people together, who ministers the Christian faith (while I minister the Pagan faith!) and who supports people as best he can. Even though I don’t follow or agree with his faith, I still have immense respect for the work he does with people in outback South Australia.  

What I did re-affirm for myself having attended his service though was that I am definitely NOT Christian!!! I was shocked (I’m always shocked by this so you’d think I would have learnt by now wouldn’t you!)  that the service revolved around asking the Christian God for forgiveness for my apparent sins and acknowledging what a jealous and vengeful bloke he could be when you step on the wrong side of him. I left the service astounded that anyone would want to adhere to something that made them feel like they were  two years old and being told off by their Dad! Of course Mum never featured in the whole thing at all. I think she wandered off several hundred years back and left Dad to it but there ya go. 

All jokes aside (and I sincerely mean no disrespect to any other religion) I genuinely think it’s worthwhile attending the services of other religions so that you can really understand where your own religion sits in relation to them. If nothing else it affirms that what you believe in is right for you and it may also surprise you by offering you additional ways to look at your own practice. I’ve been blessed to attend rituals and services of several different religions including a variety of Wiccan and Pagan rituals in three different countries and many of them have given me ideas about ways I can connect with my Gods and Goddesses that I might otherwise have never known about. So while I might have not enjoyed getting told off by someone else’s ‘Dad’ for stuff I personally don’t think I deserved, I did learn that Wicca is my faith of choice and I’m happy right where I am!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst