This pic came with my Sample Pictures when we recently reinstalled windows. Kinda nice, isn't it?
I want to take a moment and hope that all of the moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day this weekend!
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I know that people open up their blogs as though inviting a friend in for tea...at least that is how I look at it. I recently had someone who is a Christian post a link to a radical Christian website as a 'comment' to one of my posts. I can only assume that person feels some call to try to bring others to her idea of the true religion.
I am always happy to see that people are passionate about their faith. I also appreciate that someone would be concerned enough about me to feel I need directing to their faith.
I do not ask anyone to live my life. I have my own concept of what God is. It's my own unique kind, just as I feel that even people within the same church all have their own unique thoughts about their faith. They may not share these thoughts with everyone, but I believe we all have our own unique ideas of the best way to honor our idea of the Divine.
I was raised a Christian, and so I do carry some of those ideals with me. I do believe in Jesus, and I also believe that many items in the bible are accurate. I also feel a pull to honor nature and Mother Earth. I feel drawn to celebrate the seasons, as my idea of a physical representation of the Divine. In other words, I see God in the waving grasses. I see God in the robins as they hop through my garden. I see God in the rain showers, as well as in the eyes of dolphins as they play. I see God in the harvest, as I honor the fact that we have been blessed with food once more.
I do not consider the gods and goddesses that many pagans work with as 'real' in the sense that some do. I do not see them as figures sitting up in the clouds. Instead, I see the essence of the lessons that their mythology brings. I realize that the mythology of these different gods and goddesses are very similar to the metaphors within the bible. All of these stories serve to help people to live better lives, to treat people with more love and respect, and to honor our bodies and our worlds as the temples that they were designed to be.
So, I guess you could say that even within the pagan community, I am unique (as many of us are). To me, I associate the term 'pagan' with this definition: any earth-based belief system, especially those celebrating the cycles of the year, the seasons, the harvest, and the sun and moon cycles.
That's ME! Maybe some would feel more comfortable if they thought of my belief system as being more of a Naturalist (translation: one who studies and appreciates nature). I'm fine with that. I do not feel I need a label to explain who and what I am. The label is more because others seem to demand a label, and 'pagan' is really the closest one to how we live our lives in our family.
My idea of God, and other people's idea of God, are occasionally different. Rather than focusing on what makes us different, why not focus on where we are the same? I love my family. I am a good mom who loves her children very much. I love to garden and do crafts. I really enjoy a good book, and I read books from nearly every genre (but find fantasy books and books on historical fiction to be my favorites). I love watching Jeopardy every night with my hubby, and I sing along to Disney movies with my kids. I'm a fan of 80's music and I love to dance. I enjoy sitting on the beach and watching the waves, and eating chocolate cake is one of my favorite delights. I want my kids to grow up being loving, kind and compassionate people.
Are we really so different?
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