Beware of your refuge...
People use all sorts of tricks to feel good. The interesting thing is that some solutions will work for some, while different ones will work for others. If in our case, one such mechanism succeeds, then so be it: fantastic!
Human beings are very fragile and are very lonely in a hostile and incomprehensible world. The human mind has an amazing ability to motivate us and make us able to fight cancer, drug addiction, and almost anything we can not control by our conscious mind. For some, getting fully involved in helping others and feeling full satisfaction at seeing others excel and be happy, has a transforming and rejuvenating effect on them.
I have used these psychological devices myself, and I know of others who get fulfilled by doing social work, enjoying the spiritual majesty of temples, immersing in the magic of music, and endeavoring in religious mysteries that transport them from a rational and intellectual world that sometimes they do not have the ability to analyze and understand, but which by using these non-rational or cuasi-mystical forms they get inspired and moved overwhelmingly so as to change them positively for the best.
The only important thing to remember, though, is not to get fanatical just because it worked for us, and then attempt to impose it upon others for their salvation and eternal happiness.
The greatest valuable assets in our lives are these human beings who constitute our support structure and grant us support in the face of many adversities. We should never lose the ability to accept others and their peace-seeking mechanisms, while we remain attentive to point out other means that may be useful to help them in the future if these first-means lose their usefulness at some point.
As to us, let's strive never to lose the humility to be open to all means available to elicit changes in us, while we remain cautious that some religious manipulators do not get to extort us financially for their own benefit. I do not think that God can hide behind some of these mechanisms, but who knows!
I for one still think that it is very important to know each day even more and more of the physical and scientific nature of our human essence; recognize us as a wonderful machine that has limitations and properties towards which we can not act irresponsibly, lest we tragically destroy its physical and spiritual powers.
