My mother was an ex-nun - having served several years as a novitiate, but ultimately leaving the convent before final vows. A seeker, longing for the sovereignty religion marketed, but never delivered, she visited other faith-based organizations with high hopes, but always left disappointed returning to the emptiness of her "known" Catholicism. My father was a Lutheran come Catholic, and too sought the dominance over others that religion promised through his anti-abortion campaigning, men's church groups, and his almost-a-priest clergy standing as a deacon.
My raising consisted of fasting, sacrifice, daily church attendance, an oppression. But before I oversell this pleasure paradise, let me clarify that from my perspective, my parents acted in accordance with their level of education and the mainstream level of both religious and secular knowledge of the times. Realization of the self as the source of all suffering (aka, buddhism or christ consciousness), was a completely foreign concept to them...and if I am being fair - to most.
All sayings contain grains of truth, but their applicability, context, and use determine their weight and validity. Take "you are your friends." Certainly, this personality resembles some aspects of those with whom I keep company, but I seek out the differences in the hopes of tipping the scale toward expansion. The more different your beliefs and culture, the more interesting and multifaceted your perspective. This leads to a richer, more complex conversation of ideas and visions and a deeper understanding of life and self. In this vein, I am the outlier, the different approach, the new kid.
So, no. I do not believe any of my parents' saying; nor, really, did I ever. My path has always been embracing exploration and seeking for curiosity's sake rather than for retribution and weaponry. At a very young age, I questioned their dogma, and it is in this context in which all parental advices fell on deaf ears. Even today as I reflect on those' idioms, I am far more humbled by my parent's efforts, and easily see myself in their shoes. And although I held on to none of the advice - not then, and not now - I do hold the challenges of this human form with all its idiosyncracies and mystery, in an open palm, searching with curiosity its evolution.
