121510. A gal I went to high school with is Jewish. She lives in Texas. And she has kids.
I don’t know her well.
We were classmates, and we reconnected on Facebook just a month or so ago.
I don’t know much about her life.
Just what appears in her status line every once in a while.
And yesterday her status said something to the effect that it wouldn’t be the holidays if her kids didn’t hear from their classmates that they are going to hell because they don’t believe in Jesus.
I’m paraphrasing.
But.
Wow.
Seriously.
So disheartening.
But then I realized how unsurprised I was.
I got to thinking about my college boyfriend Eric … and the family member of mine who took me aside and said I couldn’t marry him because we “wouldn’t spend eternity together.”
And then I thought about the conversation his mother had with me … that whatever kids we might have would never be Jewish, even though I had been meeting with a rabbi to convert, and she would prefer I not get my hopes up to marry her son.
(NOTE: I believe Eric married a Catholic girl who didn’t convert … I love irony…)
And then I thought about the priest at my nephew’s christening who went out of his way to degrade any belief system outside the Christian mythology.
(NOTE: My sister’s husband was not raised in a Judeo-Christian home … his parents where there and I’m SURE they were more offended than I was … and I was there with my then-Jewish-boyfriend … I was not only offended … but I was embarrassed by this supposed learned-man-of-God’s ignorance and intolerance.)
The thing is … this blog isn’t an outlet for me to get on my high horse with opinions about politics or religion.
I would rather it be a venue to explore how to find happiness, healthiness and holiness in an everyday life …
But I’ve been in turmoil since reading that status update …
The thing is … I understand that the kids who are taunting my classmate’s children probably don’t mean harm. They are expressing the beliefs they are taught at church and at home. They are early in the indoctrination into the beliefs of their parents, and learning to express those beliefs is just a normal part of deciding whether they’ll embrace or deny the system.
I just hope that this holiday season, we can remind all of our little ones that just because one family believes one thing … another family’s belief and faith is equally valid. Christian. Jewish. Hindu. Muslim. Buddhist. Agnostic. Atheist, et al. We have no way of knowing who is right or who is wrong. That’s why it’s called “faith.”
So as we move closer to the darkest day of the year (Winter Solstice ... Dec 21) ... Let's be the light ... let's be the hope ... let's embrace the true spirit of the holiday season and choose to live in peace ... live in consciousness ... and kindness ...
Q: What do you hope for this holiday season?
