The ‘pick and mix’ practice is always met with equally mixed opinions. One friend said to me that some religious people would warn me of ‘syncretism’, which is the reconciliation, or union of different or opposing principles. However, he went on to say that he himself believes in this ‘picking and mixing’ as the only true search for the underlying sameness of all religions.
The feeling that I am doing something rather unruly when I select whatever suits me best might derive from the dogmatic aspect of many religions. This is the idea that a religion can tell one the truth, in fact often the one and only truth.
The conclusion I have come to, that I am somehow on the right track with my ‘picking and mixing’, rejects the belief in one truth, in the same time as it continues to search for one. This I do by continuing to search for the common links connecting all religions.
On Maha Shivratri we had friends staying over and it first made sense to celebrate properly with an Indian meal. But giving it a second thought I realized how improper it would be to have a great meal on a day when strict Hindus eat nothing but fruit and drink milk. On the other hand, it didn’t seem fair to announce a semi-fast to our friends either. I therefore decided to postpone celebrations till the day after when Hindus would have broken the fast (are you now starting to see the ‘suit-yourself’ attitude I spoke about?).
This is how we came to celebrate Maha Shivratri one day late, at lunchtime. I didn’t make a big deal of it since I have learnt that people don’t always like to be told what is going to happen. If things just happen it is so much better received.