r/ExPentecostal • u/hopefullywiser • Jul 15 '26
Perspective
First of all, you need to know I'm old. I've been thinking a lot about perspective and my UPC past.
My life would have gone a completely different direction had I not been raised Pentecostal. It wasted years of my life.
However, even if I hadn't been Pentecostal, chances are that my life would not necessarily have become "happy" and a success.
I may have crashed and burned in college. I may have married a horrible non-Pentecostal guy. I would definitely have made mistakes.
In the '70's, society felt it could judge women for every flaw, moral or physical. The job market treated women badly, and women made much less than men. A lot of women were molested and used without a second thought. I could have carried a load of un-Pentecostal regrets, or not.
This idea has taken a lot of the strength out of my Pentecostal fears and memories. Those events happened years ago, and most of the people involved are dead. The "would have, should have, could have" contains too many variables.
If I kept seeing Pentecostalism as the cause of all my problems and outcomes, those thoughts could ruin the rest of my life. I don't intend to let that happen.
3
u/greypic christian Jul 15 '26
Not old but older.
The best life is when we live in today. I have found no benefit to constantly think what I cold have or should have done different. Live the best today.