Day 4: My Views on Religion

I was born into a non-practicing Catholic family.   My parents tried at first but by the time I was 7 they were fallen away although we still went to CCD.  I never was confirmed though.  They kept moving the age up and my folks said enough and I was graduated and gone.

I always went to church with my Grandmother to the St. Agnes in Ashland.  She would even put some rouge on my cheeks to make it special.  I loved that church, still do.  It is beautiful to look at and gave me hours of artistic daydreaming.  In summer I had a problem with passing out though due to the heat. 

I have tried all sorts of churches but none really feel like home. I also have a real problem with having to go to a place.  I am a homebody for the most part.  I find the bible mind numbing for the most part and never understood those who take it literally.  I have neighbors who do so and everything revolves around the bible or sins of others.  I don't like to talk with them for any length of time.

When we first moved here I was accused by a neighboring town's church of being a witch because the above neighbor's goat was killed while staked on the roadside and because the left haunch was taken, something about opposites etc. meant it was the devil and they just right away assumed it must be those new neighbors.  A great way to start! 

This area is very conservative.  We have a large Mennonite and Amish population.  Also, being an at home mom the only other moms I knew were all homeschooling so everything revolved around Jesus.  It was overwhelming.  The gossiping about who had a "bun in the oven" though came and bit two families in the butt when their daughters got pregnant.  And guess what?  The world did not end!

Anyway, I have dabbled in various christian groups and even went to RCIA classes and got confirmed in the Catholic faith.  I find it as close to my  beliefs as I get and I am still very very far from a lot of it.  I don't have a church home but I do once in awhile attend a mass in the next town over.

Last year I went to a Friends (Quaker) meeting and enjoyed that.  But there again, an hour drive.  I just am not into it that much.

I like to read about various beliefs.  I have gone to Ojibwe sweatlodges, Sami drum circles, pagan gatherings and the such.  I love dancing in powwows to honor my relatives and try to attend two to three powwows a year.  I enjoy the idea of the earth religions, keeping it simple stupid with what is right in front of you every moment of every day.  I don't need to go to church to see what "God" has created.  I can't decide if there is a god or not.  But I do enjoy reading the history, mystery, visiting sacred spaces and thinking about it all.