Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

Yes, the form of the question is offensive.

Instead of unthinkingly downvoting the parent, consider this thought experiment: what if the question had been:

“Ask HN: What form of Christianity do you practice?”

Asking a large, diverse community such a question comes off as gaslighting those who are not part of the implied group. As such, it’s rude and offensive and has a detrimental effect.

It would be better to just change the form of the question to remove the problem: For those people who have one, what is your daily spiritual practice?

100% atheism. Was raised some kind of protestant I forget which one, and derived tremendous spiritual and psychological relief when I realized all of that was absolute nonsense at the age of 9. I knew I was gay at the time and wouldn't come out until I was 18 or so, but my life just got a lot easier when I removed religion completely. I also recall discovering increased moral agency -- as a Christian I had been taught I could simply confess whatever and it would be forgiven (an idea I found laughable), and that the objective basis for making moral judgements comes directly from god (another idea I found laughable). As an atheist I was suddenly responsible for making my own moral judgements and conclusions (I had to decide upon my own objective basis for making moral judgements), and forgiveness was something I had to work towards myself (as in I had to forgive myself for things, which is not easy, but is incredibly rewarding) versus simply getting it for free from some nonexistent deity. All in all, was an incredibly positive change in my life, and I do believe there can be a weird sort of spirituality to 100% atheism that people don't really acknowledge.

You might like this poem (from what I can find it is attributed to Bill Britton):

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or any annoyance; when you stand face-to- face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility and endure it as Jesus endured. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you are content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendations, when you can truly love to be unknown. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart. THAT IS DYING TO SELF

Are you dead yet? In these last days, the Spirit would bring us to the cross.

“That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Philippians 3:10

EDIT: I like to keep this poem around as a reminder on how I should act. I find that self is a hard beast to conquer.

Same here. Lauds before work, Vespers in the evening. I'm currently praying what I think is a Franciscan Secular Order variant. I also pray a short prayer at 15:00 (Our Father and Glory Be) which is purportedly the time when Jesus died on the Cross for us, which is also very beneficial. Sundays I read Scripture, following what is really a daily Coming Home Network schedule [1] - a couple of chapters from the Old Testament in order, a Psalm or a a short excerpt from one of the books of wisdom, a chapter from the New Testament

[1] https://chnetwork.org/free-resource-updated-version-of-our-r...

It might be fair but it's uninteresting and shows lack of self examination. The range of understanding of "spirituality" is so broad and personal nearly anything can theoretically fit into it.

You have people in here talking about their coffee and music habits, but in a way that is interesting and engaging with the question rather than dismissing it.

The fact that someone is so sure that they can't find anything like this in their relationship to the world might be interesting in some contexts but doesn't take the conversation anywhere new.