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Religion in Everyday Life
by Sister Usha
Many people believe that the primary focus of religion is on prayers and ceremonies and worshipping deities. There are many people in many countries professing adherence to the world's major religions who believe that the sum total of their obligations to those faiths consists of attending ceremonies and reciting from memory prayers they were taught as children. In some cases, the people do not even understand the prayers that they are reciting. Sometimes people say prayers in a language they do not speak (Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit, etc.) or in an antiquated version of their own language (for example the English in the King James translation of the Bible, published in 1611 but still in use in some churches in the US).
If religion stops there, it is a meaningless waste of time. Go see a movie instead. The proper focus of faith is on how you feel about yourself and how you treat the other beings (human and non-human) that you encounter in your everyday life. The role of ceremonies is to remind us of those guidelines and reinforce our commitment to them.
We at Divinely Female say that we worship femininity. Let us address the question of why. The most holy and magical thing in the universe is life. Life is what sets us apart from rocks, what makes us aware of our existance. We should cherish life in all its forms. It is an invaluable gift, and we should celebrate every moment. Our lives as individuals will some day come to an end. In the words of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, "When it comes time for me to die, I do not want to find that I have not lived."
The vast majority of the living beings on this planet, including every human who has ever lived, was nurtured inside a female being. The only exceptions are primitive organisms such as bacteria. It is true of plants: male plants produce pollen but the offspring plant embryo develops into a seed surrounded and nurtured by the flesh of its mother. When you look at a fruit, you are looking at a pregnant plant. It is true of birds; male birds produce sperm, but the female provides all the nutritive matter in the egg, without which the offspring would never hatch. It is especially true of humans. Human females carry their offspring inside their bodies for nine months, long enough for the child to develop to the point of being able to breathe and eat on its own. She then nurses the child with breast milk for many months more. In each of these cases, the male plant or male bird or male human contributes DNA to the process, but the resulting embryo would die very quickly without the female.
Women must not only nurse their offspring but they must love them as well. Once again, no child would live very long if its mother did not care for it, feed it, and protect it from danger. Nature provided the female heart with an enormous capacity for compassion and affection. This is to ensure that mothers continue to care for their children despite the diapers and crying and other little annoyances that accompany motherhood.
Thus we celebrate femininity. How does this translate into everyday life? For men, this means that they should respect women and be grateful toward them. They should treat them as equals in business, school, and politics; they should accept a secondary supporting role in anything having to do with the reproductive process, including sex and childrearing. Furthermore, every man should resolve to make at least one woman happy each day of his life. Give her flowers, or give her a present, or give her a compliment. Do this every day. This is especially true of your mother and your wife. Your mother is the woman who gave you life at immense sacrifice to herself. Be grateful for that, and take every possible opportunity to express that gratitude. As you mature, your wife replaces your mother as your chief sourse of nurturing female energy. Tell her every day that she is the wisest, most beautiful, most loving creature you have every met, and believe in your own heart that that is true.
For women, worshipping femininity means recognizing that you are yourself a powerful being worthy of respect. First thing every morning, look east at the rising sun and say a prayer expressing gratitude and reminding yourself of your worth. Address whatever deity it is that you worship, and thank her for making you a woman. If some jerk shows you disrespect because of your femininity, take pity on that poor unenlightened soul who will never know true happiness.
Just like the man, you should resolve to make at least one man happy every day. Merely smiling at a man can in many instances be enough to liven his spirits. Remember that your femininity gives you power over men. You can affect a man's emotional state in ways that no other man can. Use that power at least once every day to bring joy to a man's soul. This is of course dangerous, as you do not want men to misinterpret and think that a smile represents an invitation. But with a little practice you can bring joy to people on a regular basis without risking your own happiness.
The key to both sides of this equation is that faith should inspire compassion, the desire to bring joy to the lives of others. Men and women have slightly different approaches to this, but the goal is the same. By making others happy, you will make yourself happy. By making yourself happy, you will be better able to make others happy. Thus you can create a decidedly non-viscious cycle among yourself and those around you, increasing the happiness of all. Joy is what life is and should be about.