Bless my soul, I can't believe I forgot this story! I don't know what has happened this week to distract me: was it the hair raising disgustingness of Newt Gingrich's personal life? The tragicomic behavior of a cowardly ship captain? The ludicrousness of Mitt Romney's tax rate? The influx of Valentine's Day-themed merchandise every where I go? The expensive revelation that the largely decorative balcony on the front of the house has been held up by luck, termite poo and mystery? What, oh what has kept me busy this week?
I confess that I MAY not be raising my kids in the most spiritual of households. But the kids regularly attend Sunday School and a monthly service designed for families. Our rabbi rocks. He is the most thoughtful, open minded spiritual leader I have ever met. EVER. He embraces thought and question, and encourages people to examine their beliefs and reconcile them to their ideas. A lovely combination of mind and heart, really.
In an effort to include the children at the last monthly service, he posed a question to the kids:
"How can we better get to know God?"
Interesting question. For sure. The stuff theologians have been working on since..., well, God. A question surely answered in completely different ways across the spectrum of faiths. And, indeed a question answered differently among the children at the services:
"We can pray."
"We can study the Bible."
"We can worship."
"We can honor the sabbath."
All of these are good answers. Cute kids trying very hard to get an unknowable answer correct.
Then there's S:
"We can die."
Yup. There it is. My son, the 6 year old nihilist. We are going to have to invest in serious psychotherapy money for that kid. He's out there, in first grade, learning about addition and reading and playing tag and all the while thinking that perhaps his god is unknowable except in death.
He's gonna be fine. Normal. Totally normal.
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