Lately, I've been thinking about beliefs. In specific, do I tell my family that I no longer believe in God, and will not be raising my child religiously. The most religion our kid will get is the Unitarian Universalist kind. No God, baby Jesus, and creepy Holy Ghost. I'm certain, I will get some sort of question regarding a baby dedication (the non-denominational version of baby baptisms, because they're better than that), or church, or something about raising kids "God's Way".
The thing is, the reaction could be anywhere from quiet, polite shock to THOU ART A BLASPHEMER!!! My mother was surprisingly calm and accepting when I told her a year or so ago that I no longer believe in an institutionalized Christian church. She does not know that I no longer believe in God at all. To me - there is no God, Jesus, Holy Spirit and the Bible are fictional stories. My mother's reaction does not predict my grandmother's and cousin's reactions. I'm usually conflict adverse and would rather just not mention it, however even at 9 weeks pregnant I can be a bit unpredictable emotionally, so I'm sure when I'm 37 weeks, my patience level will be rather short and my brain to mouth filter nonexistent. In late pregnancy with hormones a muck and quite uncomfortable, who knows how I'll respond to 'God' questions. I'm picturing it now and its not pretty.
I may tell just my mom about my heathen-ness at some point. I could see her handling it.
So what do I believe? I believe all living things are connected somehow. That there's a spirit connecting humans to animals to bugs to trees to water to oceans to skies to stars to planets to galaxies. Everything is connected. I believe that we get more than one shot at life. We're not always people, sometimes we're the microscopic bugs in the ocean, but humans aren't better than those bugs. We're not striving for good karma and move up the reincarnation ladder until nirvana. We just are. We're energy and the universe is good at recycling.
We need to respect the trees and grasses and animals, because either once we were one or will be one. We need to respect each other because someday I might be your brother or your mother. That's where laws and rules have to their place, ensure respect. I should give to you what I have so you can have a better life and you should do the same, even if all that we have to give is a hand full of lint and love and paper hearts. What matters more is love than material possessions. Love in a friendship is what is needed most. And respect. Respect yourself to know when your friend is not giving you love and paper hearts. Respecting our body while we're in it in thanks to the universe for being good at recycling. These are beliefs I want to teach my child.
I know I sound like a rambling hippie, but the writer of this blog is the post modern hippie of the title. I have to live up to its namesake.
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