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Mary represents a place within our hearts, there is a symbolic significance to including her in the scheme of our comprehension of God as opposed to excluding her so that she becomes only the mother Jesus we can forget about, and see no special meaning in
Although scripture does not dwell on this, the traditions are ancient predating the 4th century. Only in the reformation was this facet of the faith squarely taken away. I'm not saying the Catholic understanding of Mary is completely true, just that aspects of Mary and what she represents are interesting and have been helpful to many.
Part of the reason Mary has a high place is that even ancient physicians knew both Mother and Father co-operate in producing a child. They couldn't see how she was not important because of this spiritually as well as physically, and that the bond they had was strong
It's hard for protestants to see this, because they don't see what it is we are seeing when we think of her. It's a certain understanding that comes from dwelling on the mystery of the incarnation
Whether you're comfortable asking her to pray for you or not, possibly what is more significant is the maternal aspect of God she represents, that helps see a more complete picture, which is part of the Father ultimately but somewhere in our heart.
Mary is part of the richness of the faith, but I don't think you have to literally think of Mary as Catholics do, but see there is symbology inherent to her that is understandable
The idea God allowed his church to teach something really wrong for well over a 1000 years is hard to believe. Even if it's not exactly right, he didn't seem to mind that much!
That view is as silly as Catholics who claim no salvation outside the Catholic church. A lot of entrenched positions are really a bit dumb
Not that I believe in ecumenicalism much - let's just be different and not try to merge our beliefs too much, cause we'll only end up messing it up and getting it wrong
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