My grandpa was a devout Catholic, knelled down every night to say his prayers and went to services. I was raised Catholic; I don't think I left the church as much as it left me. That's water under the bridge at this point. I am still a religious man. I follow the teachings of Jesus in my life and those of the Buddha who taught the same basic teachings as Jesus, just 500 years earlier. I still say my prayers to Jesus every night, though not on my knees. I do not pray to Buddha because he said he was not a god, but merely pointed the way.
I joined the navy and the night before I left grandpa gave me a small plastic beaded rosary. I carried that rosary with me everywhere I went in the navy. It was mainly that Irish thing with superstition. I never went to church in the navy but I always carried that rosary on my person. When grandpa died and mom went through his meager belongings, she found his rosary and then gave it to me and it is my most prized possession. I have it in sight every day and one thing I immediately noticed was how many times the metal loops between the beads had been repaired and at some point one or more of the beads were lost I suppose during one of its many breakages. I cannot imagine how many times he prayed on that rosary. I feel a sense of him every time I touch the rosary.
In recent times I have noticed many religions have some similar type of beaded circles. There must be something about that; I'm not sure exactly what that might be. Perhaps it is to remind us of the circle of life and better yet to indicate to us that our souls never die, only bodies die and decay, but never souls.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
I joined the navy and the night before I left grandpa gave me a small plastic beaded rosary. I carried that rosary with me everywhere I went in the navy. It was mainly that Irish thing with superstition. I never went to church in the navy but I always carried that rosary on my person. When grandpa died and mom went through his meager belongings, she found his rosary and then gave it to me and it is my most prized possession. I have it in sight every day and one thing I immediately noticed was how many times the metal loops between the beads had been repaired and at some point one or more of the beads were lost I suppose during one of its many breakages. I cannot imagine how many times he prayed on that rosary. I feel a sense of him every time I touch the rosary.
In recent times I have noticed many religions have some similar type of beaded circles. There must be something about that; I'm not sure exactly what that might be. Perhaps it is to remind us of the circle of life and better yet to indicate to us that our souls never die, only bodies die and decay, but never souls.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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