Raising Pagans
Yesterday I caught Eden staring out the window with her hand over her heart, waiting to see if the lightening would strike the Space Needle and reciting this:
I pledge alligance to the thunder storm,
They give me laughs
And times to run to the windowseat with my sister.
Amen!
Given that most Christians in America today consider the Pledge of Alligiance a prayer second only to the Our Father, I figured this little ditty to the power of mother nature would convince everyone that we are raising a fine littlr batch of pagans.
P.s. When I typed this up Eden read it and asked, “Mama, are we pagans?” — which reminded me of yet another kid-and-mother conversation which made Paul clap his hand over his eyes and shake his head mournfully. :
Me: “Girls, it’s time to go home now because have to get the house ready for Shabbat.”
Eden: “Mama, are we turning Jewish?”
Me: “Not exactly baby, we are just practicing Sabbath.”
Eden: “What are we then Mama?”
Me: “Well, we are what you might call JudeoChristian…but we also celebrate Solstice,so…um….I guess you can say we are Interfaith. Yeah, yeah, say we are Interfaith.”
[Insert Paul slapping his forehead here.]
That’s so kewl. Here’s to raising awesome kids!
So, Rachelle, do you no longer refer to yourself
as a Christian? Sometimes you make comments
about Jesus such as “I love the guy” or “I deeply
love the man.” Do you no longer view Jesus as
God? And if you do, then why such JOY about
raising your children as pagans? You seem happy
that your kids participate in some of the distinctly
pagan solstice celebrations.
In the push to be inclusive and emergent, just what DO you
believe? Ya think your squishy beliefs would now allow
you to be on staff with your prior church?
Yeah, you sound oh so cool and progressive, but where
is the centrality of Jesus?
Just wondering,
Sheena
Hi Rachelle,
LOL… I thought you might find this link somewhat interesting. Check out what this Lutheran Church in San Francisco is doing. www.herchurch.org
Cheers and happy Thanksgiving!
Sheena,
The call to live a life concurrent to Jesus’s example and teaching is the central call in my life. Tolerance and inclusion were often a part of Jesus’s life, and the very essence of Christianity is a blended religion emerging out of Jewish roots. So, I have an ecclectic religious practice which connects me to God and Jesus through Jewish traditions, Christian traditions, and an honoring of the Creation made by our Creator (which often looks more pagan than Christians because until recently Christians have largely ingnored this aspect of their faith practice.)
I’m proud that my kids as a very integrated spirituality that flows out of thier instuitive ‘knowing’ of God, and inlcudes the created order (rain, thunderstorms) and thier every day living (sisters, windowseats.) Sometimes that looks Jesus-y and sometimes it looks pagan-y — but it’s always Godwardly directed, so I’m fine with it.
I’m hoping to write something soon on why I’m still a “Jesus-y pagan-y sacramental buddhist-lite little-bit-witchy new kind of Christian.” So if you are truly interested, stayed tuned.
Thanks for your response, Rachelle. Yes, I am interested and will stay tuned.
It doesn’t seem as though you answered my primary question, tho, which was
do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, or do you just “love the man” as you
put it. Do you believe that he is God? Is he central to your new belief system?
Rachelle - another “interfaith” checking in, I think..
I’m finding it really hard to define us by set lines these days, so am borrowing your terms - cos that’s where we seem to be found now. And it’s a good place to be.
rachelle,
i stumbled my way around the internet and wound up here. it all started when dwight posted the letter. then i found myself at the paf site. tonight, i was checking to see if the protest was still slated for tomorrow, and then i thought “who is this paul person, anyway?” and then i read how he was a “pastor’s husband” and then i googled pastor chapman in seattle and then i wound up here writing quite the run-on sentence, and i don’t really know where i’m going with this as the sentence seems to have taken over, but i’m really enjoying reading your blog.
(p.s. i don’t think sheena will like me very much. but that’s okay.)
while i’m not so sure what we “believe” (mere intellectual assent) is the most important thing, i do think that who our lord and savior is, is key. we need to remember that even the demons “believe” and tremble. but do they acknowledge him as their savior and lord (i.e. follow him)? no. being a christian does not mean adhering to a set of intellectual beliefs but acknowledging jesus as one’s lord and savior which naturally means following him. unfortunately in our western world mere intellectual assent has tried to pass itself off as christianity without the fruit to show what it really is.
i do think it’s also wise to realize that other religions have demonic attachments to them and our involvement in these religions and their practices can make us vulnerable to those spirits having influence in our lives. len at next reformation has a good post on buddhism and spiritual warfare and my own experiences very much attest to this.
having said that, in this pluralistic world i do think we need to be respectful of others’ beliefs and realize that if we put down others’ religions we automatically will put people on the defensive and may extinguish any opportunity we have to introduce them to jesus. personally, i think it is more effective to focus on what it means to be a christian rather than to alienate people by criticizing their faith community. there may be some truth in other religions but jesus is the truth.
at felix hominum joe says this about being interfaith:
“…the radical conclusion that it is a valid form of postmodern church to say that “No man comes to the Father but by me”. Or, to put it another way, if you think that postmodernism does away with the rigour of specific faith claims, you are not familiar with the wide variety.
And this variety of specific faith claims leads me to my last point. In the various interfaith meetings I attend, there are a number of faith groups represented. It is not “interfaith” to offer up a general wish when asked for a prayer. When I pray, I pray in Jesus’ name. If you can pray along with me, please do. If you cannot pray along with me, then take the interfaith movement seriously and listen and learn as you hear me pray. I will afford you the same dignity. But please don’t tell me to pray in a way that “everyone can join in”. I simply cannot take every faith position and baptize it into Christian prayer. It does not do justice to your faith. Nor can I simply pretend that my prayer is some sort of “lowest common denominator” spirituality. That does not do justice to one I call Lord, and whose name is Jesus.”
(to read his entire blog entry click here and scroll to “postmodern rigor”–sept 2)
sorry, didn’t mean to write an essay on your comments.
lol, i think i’ll post this on my blog later.
[…] Sometimes I wonder what all my ad hoc spirituality is teaching my children. I’m trying my best — but so did my parents, and my church, and my religious school — and I sure ended up with a bunch of crap mixed in there with the goodies. If I make up random sacraments, if my children spend their lives building Shrines for Hard Feelings and hurling plates at Anger Altars, will they regret it? I am not sure. But this I believe; my attempts, though small and flawed and most assuredly open for misinterpretation, these humble attempts at caring for these precious souls will teach them these true things […]