Wiccan Weekly Writings are first, an opportunity for me to talk about ideas brought up by various quotations from a Wiccan point of view and secondly an opportunity for members of this community, whatever their spiritual path or lack thereof, to enter into dialogue about these ideas. Please feel free to ask any questions you have about my path, my personal interpretation of Wiccan theology, or the religion in general. We Wiccans don't proselytize, but we'll answer questions. Please let this be a place of civility and respect for the truths of other people's paths. And now, onto the thinky thoughts....
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
--Benjamin Franklin
While I don't drink, I have been struck by the spirit of this quote and how it so accurately captures the basic worldview of neopaganism. America started with a strong Puritan strain, and we are still dealing with it. It is easy to imbibe from our culture at large a suspicion of pleasure and things that bring it. This is not the Wiccan way.
Beer is proof the gods love us and want us to be happy. So is the amazing way lunch tastes when you're hungry. The incandescent vitality you feel when you're in love. The sheer wondrousness of the blue sky, the rich smell of the earth after a rainstorm...all this is good, happy, to be reveled in and appreciated, not viewed with suspicion.
Myself, I often think this was what they have Jesus talking about when he says to become like a little child. When it snows, a child does not instantly worry about work or school or the shoveling out. They look out, see the sun glittering on the snow, the frost patterns on the window, and say, "How pretty!" That simple appreciation of existing and taking joy in the small things that come is one of the best things that I have found in this particular spiritual path.
This isn't license to do anything to excess. I think we all find out that excess is sometimes its own punishment. Too much cake, and your stomach rebels. Too much beer, and your hangover will be spectacular. Too much self-interested pursuit of pleasure, and you'll discover your relationships damaged. But we are not a puritan religion, and we are called to love and laughter.
Where has your laughter come this week?