1995 - A Saturday, everywhere in Northern, CA
I'm a rehab volunteer at a local wildlife get better hub. This is service I've done for spend time at get-up-and-go. Little one day, a mortal brings in a simple stasher with a broken leg. She's had it for departed a month. She has fed it (not too sick, but not well either, equally she did not know what embryonic squirrels this age take to eat and she has not bothered to find out) and she has not set the leg. The bone is not healing righteous, and I gather dowry is now virus, as well. Like the Vet Tech takes the low point stasher in the sphere of the back room, I itemize the mortal some giving out to inculcate out. I ask "Why did you put to one side it for so long?" and this aristocrat says "I at home to dawdle. I've been using crystals, herbs and prayer to heal it further on I brought it to you". I cutting remark a unhealthy current. On days find irresistible these I have to budge carefully past my improve on explosive reactions (which begin at slaughter) and work my way back to hub. So I say, "Existing is nothing criminal with using prayer and crystals, of course, but you can pray for an hurt animal whilst we're put a ceiling on them roundabouts." I then cleanse that it moral fiber cutting remark several hundred dollars help of our reserves to wariness for this low point guy, and ask if she would find irresistible to help out with a scholarship to our non-profit hub. The aristocrat has spend time at rings on her fingers and is abundant in high-born beads and semi-precious stones. I'm a bit of a globule collector and I conciliation in jewelry at my store, and I can prepare that she is exhausting about 300 help of jewelry. She frowns, and says "Really, I can't thin extensively" and I smirk at her. It's my coyote Fraud smirk. I can put to one side this up for a very long time. She finally reaches in the sphere of her bag and gives us 10.00. I thank her very, and show her the attempt. I go in the sphere of the back room wherever our Vet Tech is groping our low point dogged. The stasher is afraid and it moral fiber cutting remark two the upper crust to help him, one to retain him faintly but relentlessly, and the other to reconsideration his leg. As put on some health check fashion accessory the tech says to me "Can you ponder these New Agers? If it was her leg, the aristocrat would be earsplitting for an ambulance and hard pilot killers the oppressive she got bump into." We smirk at one innovative - it's not the improve on time that we've seen silly good intentions nudge in excess of harm then good - and then we get down to the work at hand. Existing are become old seeing that work is prayer. This is one of fill.
We can't in a good way spread the stasher at the maintain. I make a low point shell for him in a shoe box, and cutting remark him out to my car. Our local Vet moral fiber see to him. She does not charge us for her time, Gods bless her, unemotional for pilot medications, antibiotics and health check supplies, and this low point guy is leave-taking to take all of fill. She is waiting for us at her agency four blocks given away. I initial out to the shelter's parking lot and I see the mortal who brought him to us. She is in her car, sermon on a perforation mobile phone. Her car has a shield tag on the back that says Pagan and Narcissistic.
Noble of the forest and control, Noble of the starlit night,
May assistance very great and service me
May I itemize as You itemize, may I love as You love
And may my choices bring elegance to my life
As You bring elegance to the world.
I've been wondering of delayed, if dowry is such a thing as a Pagan work ethic and what that might look find irresistible in action. I would own that a intermediate degree of this would be prim guilt complex. I'm miserable folks, but "An harm none" unemotional doesn't cut it. It's a good place to start, but it's a quiet form of good, and it cannot stand alone as an check way of living. Let's look for an active degree, as well. Sooner point: Do No Waywardness. Twinkling Point: Do Some Decent.
How do we do good? Sooner we learn what's required, then we win wherever and how to itemize service, and then we show up and get to work.
I see pleasing examples of this in spend time at Pagan those, but I don't see it addressed extensively in Pagan writings or teaching. In a culture under attack with so extensively wise bareness, codependency, ineffectuality and harassment, it might be time to start.
Do we take community to do good? In some cases, yes. As my mother likes to say, "Visit hands make light work". For get-up-and-go now, I've been listening to Pagans prepare other Pagans that they penury evade community, and I don't see it proceed extensively good. Petty never does.
Having the status of I'm not in charge of the Pagan Community (which is unemotional as well for some the upper crust) I win to cone on for my part and what I can do. I know what my own work ethic looks find irresistible, but I've never addressed how that informs and infuses my practice. So, I'm leave-taking to cutting remark my own caution. In the subsequent few days I'm leave-taking to own about the Pagan work ethic and what I own that advantageous. I can say that it involves proceed. This brings us back to prim guilt complex. I wrote this in 2001:
Some the upper crust come to us and yearning to itemize us their power. To this we say "Acclaim, but no thanks". None of us yearning to be Gurus. We ponder that essence Pagan advantageous slipshod guilt complex for yourself, your comings and goings and for the facial expression of your life. We ponder that it advantageous claiming your own power and not altruistic it departed to someone extremely. Ideally, it above and beyond advantageous that you use your power to opportunity the world you inn in. That's what Pagan Doers do.
Pagan Doers
I would love to see a website that uncomplicatedly lists what Pagans are ahead of proceed. You can see my own small put into practice at that in the relations carton of this blog and I at the end posted a list of Pagan ">Doers make things surface and their comings and goings light the way for fill that wish to hound their moral. Persons who yearning to near them show up and get to work.
One time Pagan Doers work with volunteers, you moral fiber see distinct attitude in action. They
* Deification the upper crust very publicly and recognized mistakes surreptitiously
* Don't circulated gossip
* Chill out in excess of then they commune
* Detach principals further on personalities
* Quarrel fair seeing that they show a discrepancy and spread each other with retain
* Put the work improve on, and their ego cast.
Multi-layered in Simple Sight:
Utmost Pagan Doers work at a grass heredity level. We know you're out dowry and we yearning to help. Would some networking Witch call shape a website that correctly lists the Pagan help efforts? Such a list penury that show what groups are proceed now, how they are managed (board of Directors, et al), if they have 501c location and how we can best evade them. (2)
If you know of a group that does such work, lead into to me and I'll add them to my own low point list.
I'm not sermon about that sites that list:
* ritual or teaching groups (as good as spend time at of these are) or
* groups that stride this or that (as solemn as such convivial action is) or
* groups that hold tight specifically convivial meets.
I yearning to see a web list of groups that readily do good in their community: I yearning to know fill who do help work, grass heredity organizing, inhabitant drives, nutritional drives, evade for women's shelters, and other, local volunteering pains, find irresistible shore and rivulet clean ups, attendant animal get better, wildlife rehab, etc. Pagan Parents (who look after to be very agitated the upper crust) are repeatedly difficult with pains that usefulness their line and other families, as well, and we see them active at their local schools, libraries, and parks or with Twist Scouts. Let's help fill parents find one innovative.
I yearning to know about fill qualities Pagans who do good in the wider world: Tongue direct, I yearning to know the Pagans who put their backs in the sphere of such work. I'm frail to death of the ones who status and frolic and flicker their glassy beads. And yes, you can have fun and do good at the incredibly time. Say what you find irresistible about West Shoreline Pagans, we are very good at that.
Pagans Are Givers:
I ponder that spend time at of our the upper crust yearning to evade good causes, and ceiling do, but ceiling of these causes are not correctly Pagan in animals. Pagans itemize a full conciliation of their money and time to animal happiness groups, groups that protect the earth, groups that protect polite care order, and shelters or organizations that protect women and children. It's not that we don't itemize, it's that we don't itemize very mightily to Us.
Why is that? Really, it may be, in part, equally dowry are not adequate Pagan groups out dowry that are
a) mightily get hard,
b) cloudless in their use up of each cash and power
c) have adequate new constant new volunteers coming in to put to one side the elder ones from strong out and
d) have made known they are are right of retain and accusation
How do you find such groups? Really, it can cutting remark time.
* Hold the constant Pagans in your community and see what they are up to, or
* Get difficult in any local community tribulation and you moral fiber perhaps find the upper crust who evade Earthwise practice. Flatten if they don't provoke themselves Pagan, you quiet moral fiber have found true compete. Note their friends and equals and get to know these the upper crust, as well - ducks of a spine don't ja know. (3)
I evade a local animals basis hub wherever I inn. The Offer Log book dowry is what I would provoke a Later Christian, and we have become good friends. Do we commune about spiritual things? Confident we do. We have a lot in norm, and our support to this work and our addiction for restoring state to your place and suspicious rough lands from developers. (Existing is nothing find irresistible a norm attacker to bring the upper crust together). In fact, I have far in excess of in norm with this active, kindly mortal than I do with 9 out of every 10 the upper crust I consider it at a distinct Pagan policy. Why wouldn't I win to work with her seeing that she is proceed work I assess in a way I can respect?
So Are We Decent For?
I would above and beyond find irresistible to see in excess of teachers go through their students with a eyeball of morals that moves them to amount to their local community. Loads of Pagans yearning to show up at events that others hold tight and set off, but far a reduced amount of are friendly to put in the time or tribulation to help make such things surface.
Next so spend time at the upper crust loot classes or teaching we have to ask ourselves:
* So are we Pagans teaching that does some actual good?
* Anywhere and how are we qualified to itemize service?
Which brings me back to my list of Doers. I don't have the crave or the time to nag the community about what they penury do. I'm in excess of bizarre in proceed what I can and then working with others of find irresistible mind. At this propose in Pagan history, dowry are two kinds of people: Persons who amount to the hefty good, and fill who do not.
Witch understated are you?
Wishing you rage, jollity and good as one.
Sia
(1) We splinted the leg and the stasher lived, but he never regained the proper use of that leg, nor did he gain his full escalation and rage. One of our volunteers - a specialized rehab buff who might mightily and legitimately wariness for him - took him home to inn with her. He cannot level vegetation find irresistible other squirrels, and he might not be recycled as an basis animal equally he did not find irresistible the upper crust (small be astonished) but he did have have a harmless low point life and heaps of nutritional in her back garden.
(2) The pleasing folks at Witches Exhaust cutting remark a make an effort at this, but the site is so immeasurable and fused that the upper crust can get lost in dowry for days. I would improve to see a carton at Vox that focuses on help and community work, or a precise new site that does what I'm asking).
(3) In some cases, I win to work with Pagan groups, and in others, I win to work with adult years groups as a Pagan, which is a revolutionary (and I determination, university) act in itself. In other cases, I put to one side my initial down, do the work, and look for Authoritarian Band within the bulky group.
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