The 9 Virtues - Piety
Growing up as a Catholic, I seem to recall thinking of “pious” as a descriptor of a particular sort of person. This saint was pious, or that priest is pious. Piety was something reserved for a select few. We the masses might strive for piety, but we'd most likely fail. Most wouldn't even try.
Now, perhaps because I'm older, or perhaps because of my chosen religious path (I suspect it's more the latter), I don't see piety that way at all. Piety is something for all of us to strive for. Most of us that try will succeed. Walking the Dedicant Path is itself, I believe, an act of piety.
Two summers ago, at the Summerland 2010 festival, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on piety, presented by Vice Archdruid Seamus Dillard. At one point, Seamus asked for a show of hands: Who practiced their religion daily? Weekly? High days only? As I recall, High days only had the biggest show of hands. Seamus's remarks on that didn't seem to indicate that he believed that the “High days only” crowd were not pious, only that there was room for improvement.
I guess this begs the question: Is there such thing as “more pious than thou”? Is one who does daily devotionals more pious than one who does a weekly ritual? And is that person more pious than one who only attends High day rituals? Can piety be measured by what one does, or is it more a quality that one possesses inside? These are not questions that I have answers for. They are definitely topics for further contemplation.
To sum it up in a nice, simple statement, I believe that piety is working to strengthen the bond between us and the Kindreds.
Now, perhaps because I'm older, or perhaps because of my chosen religious path (I suspect it's more the latter), I don't see piety that way at all. Piety is something for all of us to strive for. Most of us that try will succeed. Walking the Dedicant Path is itself, I believe, an act of piety.
Two summers ago, at the Summerland 2010 festival, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on piety, presented by Vice Archdruid Seamus Dillard. At one point, Seamus asked for a show of hands: Who practiced their religion daily? Weekly? High days only? As I recall, High days only had the biggest show of hands. Seamus's remarks on that didn't seem to indicate that he believed that the “High days only” crowd were not pious, only that there was room for improvement.
I guess this begs the question: Is there such thing as “more pious than thou”? Is one who does daily devotionals more pious than one who does a weekly ritual? And is that person more pious than one who only attends High day rituals? Can piety be measured by what one does, or is it more a quality that one possesses inside? These are not questions that I have answers for. They are definitely topics for further contemplation.
To sum it up in a nice, simple statement, I believe that piety is working to strengthen the bond between us and the Kindreds.