Oh wait, first let me get this out of the way: I am thankful for my friends, I am thankful for my home, I am thankful for my dog, and I am thankful for my parents who are watching my kids next week so my husband and I can take a trip to Cozumel!
Okay...back on topic: My "unique" (some would say dysfunctional) family.
Warning: This post is about religion. Consider yourself warned!
My kids go to a Catholic school, where 90-95% of the students are - you guessed it - Catholic!
My children are not.
They don't know what they are, and that's okay, because I don't even know what I am. I used to call myself agnostic - you know...there's a higher power, I believe in God, I don't know what denomination I am, etc. Well, I gave that up years ago. It just didn't make any sense to me.
I guess all this confusion started a birth. I was baptized Catholic and Lutheran, went to a Presbyterian high school, a Methodist college, and a Jewish medical school. Then I went on to marry a minimally spiritual man whose mother is Sikh and whose father is Hindu. I'm sure you can appreciate the confusion when we had children.
Well, here's a confession: My children have not been baptized, and I know the God I love will not punish them, or me, for it. When my children ask me what religion we are, as a family, I provide a gentle reminder that daddy and I will not determine their views and beliefs on politics or religion. They will find their religion when they are ready. They may not understand the struggles and triumphs which have led me to my beliefs, but they understand what my beliefs are, and they understand that they are my beliefs. I choose to believe in God as an entity who is present in everything around us. When I enter a Catholic Church, or a Sikh Temple, or a Muslim Mosque I am always praying to the same God.
Whatever my children decide for themselves, there is one lesson that I try to instill during every discussion. We don't love people because of their religion and we don't love people in spite of their religion; we just love people.
I am thankful this will not be an easy or mindless journey for my children, and hopeful that they will someday find their own path to God.
