Religion

Last night D and I attended a going away party for an old friend of ours. It was good to see some people we haven't seen in years, and it was good to get D out to socialize. My fabulous sister graciously agreed to watch K for us. Of course, we didn't start the night out right, because we told her to be there around 5, so we could have dinner together and hang out with her in advance. Alas, at 5 o'clock ... we were still at Target doing our grocery shopping. (Which is not normal for us, but I had the important matter of getting my hair done in the morning which delayed our weekly trip to get the essentials.)

When we returned home from the party she gave us the report. K had been "pretty" good. But due to her unfamiliarity with the night time routine, he managed to delay his bedtime longer than usually. Of course, I'm used to the throwing the pillow off the bed game, but she is not. Perhaps one of the funniest things was when she told me that he looked at the clock when she told him it was bedtime and he told her no it wasn't. (No, he can't actually read the clock, but D has taught him what 8 o'clock looks like, so if it's not exactly 8 o'clock, he doesn't think it's bedtime -- and this is on a face clock, not a digital clock.)

Then, when it came to story time, he picked one of his Tomi DePaolo books. But it was the book that he chose that was the funny thing. The Clown of God. My sister was a little surprised that we would own a book that she believed to be religious in nature. Of course, it's a lovely story and it does have a moral about how everyone's life has a purpose and we can all please God. In fact, we have a couple other stories that have religious themes ... and K happens to really like all of them.

Sometimes I wonder if we are doing any harm to our son by not having him participate in organized religion. However, I am a very spiritual person who does believe in the presence of God. I just struggle with what I've come to learn as hypocritical people gathering in a building, praising a lord and then disrespecting him as they walk out and go on about their "regular" lives. At least, by reading him these stories it does open it up for conversation. Letting him make up his own mind about what he decides to believe. Of course, my grandmother was devastated when we did not get him baptized ... but after she thought about it, she came back to me and told me that she really respected my decision to let him choose his own path. And, as a religious studies minor -- I have a variety of tomes that K can peruse when he's interested.

Of course, the basis of many religions is to force others to believe what you believe in. But for the number of religions that have that approach, there are just as many that ask their believers to open their minds to others, treat them with kindness and allow them to see the light on their own. As long as my son chooses something to believe in (that refrains from causing harm to others) I hope that it will help him find happiness throughout his life.