Several years (decades?) ago, George Gallup, Jr. presented one of the Chautauuqa Institution morning lectures. Sounds fascinating, huh? A lecture on statistics?
It was fascinating! If you read his Times obituary, you'll discover that he had a lifelong fascination with religion, and religion was the topic he addressed on that long-ago morning.
What stuck with me was his announcement that 96% of Americans say that they believe in God; only 4% claim to be agnostic or atheist. (I suppose those percentages may have changed somewhat in the past fifteen to twenty years.)
I was astonished. Had you grown up in my family, you would have concluded the numbers to be somewhat the opposite.
After I wrote the previous post, I tried to think of an example of someone praying, discussing prayer, or teaching prayer, in my family, immediate and extended.
I have been unable to come up with a single one.
Perhaps prayer happened, but not in any way that was communicated to me.
having read you blog for a few years I have come to the conclusion that you have a blogging mind, it seems most attempts to take a break just go away as your brain comes up with ideas. My family did not say grace or pray publicly outside of church, but we did pray there.
ReplyDeleteRobin, my family didn't attend church but I had to go to Sunday School. As a teenager I told my parents that I was changing churches since they didn't come with me and a while later they started attending. We did pray before meals and my parents talked about God during my childhood but I was on my own in pursuing my faith although I was never discouraged from doing so. I find it interesting that many people who have a strong faith have discovered it without parental influence.
ReplyDeleteStratoz, it was nice, just for a week!
ReplyDeleteLynda, I think it's interesting, too -- certainly many of the great saints of the Catholic church met with parental indifference or resistance as well. The Holy Spirit does what she will.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I've thought several times that I'm not at all sure I'd be a Christian if I hadn't been raised in communities of faith. It's shocking to me that anyone comes to God later in life, because God is so, so much harder to see for me as an adult.
ReplyDeleteDi, I grew up in school communities of faith - but not my family. I've often wondered if that's what makes God so frequently invisible to me -- but from what you say, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteYou helped me remember something I had pushed so far back in my memory that I can't remember when I last thought about it. I learned gratitude through prayers--prayers that my own agnostic parents taught me when I was knee high to a grass hopper. I've blogged about it today.
ReplyDeleteI am spending Midsummer Night's Eve and my dad's 85th Birthday with him in Stockholm this year, if all goes as planned. We may get to talk about some of this then because I vividly remember him leading the prayer. Thank you...
Thanks to your faith journey, your children won't have the same memories of their childhood. I think the example of faith helps nurture young faith tremendously.
ReplyDeleteAhh, my post published without me having to click on "anonymous". Yippee. That's been annoying!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't claim that at all, Karen.
ReplyDeleteMy family was stringently Catholic in terms of Sunday Mass, Catholic School and inculcating an image of a punishing Father-God who was hell-bent on punishing me.
ReplyDeleteFor better or worse, that was my religious foundation. It has proved to be quite strong. And it really only took about 20 years for me to come to a different understanding of God. Thank you 12 Steps of Al-Anon Family Groups!
I do not think God has changed ... I do believe I have changed. Significantly. I was very, very frightened as a child. So it makes sense that my understanding of God would have me in a position of fear. Today I am very, very grateful. A painful path led me here. And today I see a God of abundance and love.
That doesn't mean that I think of God and prayer and faith as anything sentimental. Not at all. For me it has proved to be a journey of intense hardship and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I have scars. Others in my life have scars. But I can also say, with as much confidence as I've ever felt about anything, that I have faith.