And I think, here we go.
The topic of how babies are made physically is no longer a difficult one compared to the new topic my daughter loves to bring up: God and Jesus.
Since this is my blog, I guess I can blog about anything. Right?
Normally I don't write about my spiritual, religious or political beliefs.
The reason: I just like to write about motherhood and writing more than the Bible and the state of our government.
But now two lines have crossed: motherhood and God, so here I go...
My daughter attends the preschool at our church. She comes home singing songs about Jesus. She tells me about her weekly trip to chapel. She asks me to read stories to her from her children's Bible. And I love that she is so taken with the story of God and Jesus, but...
But when she says that God made us, flashing lights go off in my head:
Should I just listen for now?
Should I tell her what I believe?
(That God is a universal spirit encompassing all life, present and past, and that the Big Bang did occur, that evolution is a process of life, and that God is part of it all.)
Should I tell her that I still don't know after all these years what I believe about Jesus?
Is it true what the Bible says about him?
Did heaven not exist before Jesus?
Should I project my belief about heaven and hell on her?
(That heaven exists for everyone,
even if it is just a small piece of goodness from someone's soul that is in heaven.
And that hell does not exist.)
Should I teach her about all religions and their god(s)?
Do I let her find her own way, her own beliefs?
I am still trying to figure out what I believe, but she is my daughter. I attended a church service once and watched the nods of heads accepting everything the priest said: "abortion is wrong, a woman's place should be submissive, sinners never go to heaven unless they confess and even then maybe not."
In that moment it became clear to me: I never want to accept someone's words on blind faith. It just doesn't mesh well with my scientific mind that is constantly searching for the truth.
So instead of preaching to my child, I teach. I ask questions. I listen. I guide her. I wait for her to explore answers in her mind.
She's only four.
Someday I will delve into it more deeply. I am passionate about life, its creation, its miracle, and its evolution.
But it is more important to me now that my daughter is given a chance to think, to learn how to observe and question the world around her.
4 comments:
I love you!!! and YES to all of it. Ultimately she will come to her own decisions, and hopefully those decisions will continue to change and evolve over time. While in that process, who better than you to figure out how to present those larger perspectives of God being bigger than religion makes her out to be than you!
We really do need to live closer together!
peace and love,
Michael
Thank you Michael! You understand me so well; it makes me sad that I live so far away from all of my cousins.
Your comment made me realize that I give advice to my daughter about everything else in life, why not God, too? I think she will make her own decision one day, I want her to, but what I believe is what I believe, I don't expect others to believe it. I think this is why I struggle with teaching my daughter about God, because I want her to believe what she believes. That is why I feel my beliefs so deeply, because I came to them (on my own in Costa Rica!!).
So perhaps another trip with my sister and you to Costa Rica is in the future, and we'll bring my daughters along :)
You are so strong and lovely to be able to post about this. So far, my beliefs haven't entered my blog yet, don't know if they ever will.
Thanks Becky! My blog is three years, but I've really only been blogging for two and I guess it took until now to feel strongly enough about something to try and write about it on my blog. Thank you for stopping by!
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