You must be lost

Jonah and I had our first theological discussion last night. It came a lot earlier than I thought it would. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised how it came about since he goes to preschool at a Baptist church.

We were driving to the post office when we passed a yard that had a nearly life sized nativity in it. He was chowing down on a piece of granola bar that I had shared with him and I thought he was saying "that's good". As it turns out, he was saying, "God, that's God." When I asked him to clarify, he said, "in the manger, that's God." I asked him if he learned that in school and he said, "yes."

Most of you know I don't identify myself as Christian, but I wouldn't be upset if Jonah winds up doing so for himself. I really don't care what religion or belief system he adopts and I'll be happy to objectively help him in his search for something that makes sense to him. So, I took the most objective and informative stance as possible and it was probably more than a three-year-old needed to hear.

I told him, "yes, Jonah, Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God and they celebrate his birth on Christmas Eve. But there are lots of religions and each one has their own god or sets of gods." Then I poorly attempted to explain pagan Yule to him since yesterday was indeed the solstice. I don't think he understood it all, but my main point was to make sure he knew there were other beliefs out there and not to limit his scope to what they teach in school. It's not so much that I want to drive him into the same search I've been in since I decided to turn away from Christianity. More so, I want to teach him that other religions are just as valid and I want him to respect all beliefs, no matter what one(s) he chooses for himself.

I kind of hope this is the first of many open discussions he and I can have on the subject.

I'd like to know which spiritual studies (astrology, tao, numerology, etc...) are your favorites and why.

I feel like what I've studied is just a tiny drop in the huge ocean of spiritual beliefs and systems that are out there to be studied. Of what I've studied, I feel I've only barely scratched the surface of potential for each one. The Renaissance Soul in me hates choosing favorites of anything because I fear I'll be stuck with that choice forever. Though I know that's not true and I'm always free to change my mind as I discover new information. So that said, there are a couple of studies that have range perhaps a bit more truly to me than any others thus far.

Of course, Taoism comes to mind immediately. But again, I feel I've only barely touched on it. So, I don't have much to say about it other than it just makes complete and utter sense to me. It's empowering and humbling at the same time. The challenge to live life in subtlety. To quiet yourself enough to hear the natural beatings of this world, or not just hear them, but really listen and let them guide you. To walk forward, always as a whole being, one foot in this world, the other foot in the other world. A perfect harmony between you're physical (which includes intellect) and spiritual self. To strive for balance and maintain it. It's as if I'm reading what I've always known to be true.

Perhaps my second favorite study is Tarot. I see it as a system of images meant to bring forth only what I already know to be true, but perhaps what's been locked away from me within my subconscious. We hide a lot from ourselves, but you can not lie to a Tarot deck. I don't use it as a method of revealing real unknowns or telling the future or anything of that nature. It is just something to jar from my own mind things I seek to hide from myself and make me face them. Sometimes it takes just a single card. Sometimes an entire spread. But it never ceases to amaze me how true it really is.

Okay so perhaps you have mentioned it before, but what are your religious beliefs? what do you do for a living? and what is your family background?

This one is likely to be very long. At least the religion and possibly the family background parts.

( Religious beliefs )

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( What I do for a living )

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( Family background )

And there you have it. Might as well be my life story. I probably should have broken that up into a couple of entries really.