religious post
Recently I've been listening to Joyce Meyer CDs during my long commute to and from work and to and from Lima. I'm not sure what kind of Christian she considers herself but usually I enjoy listening to her messages. It seems to me however that a lot of her justification for being a good person is because the bible says so and that confuses me. Why is that a good enough reason for being a good person? I try to be a good person but I do it because it makes me feel good and other people need charity sometimes and more recently because I want to be a good example for my son.
I know a few people who have a pretty strong faith and they seem to be generally more happy with their lives. I think that this would be a good way to be, but I'm unsure of how to go about acquiring faith. Does it have to just come to you or something? I guess I believe in God, but it's more because the general idea has been engrained in me since childhood but without any kind of back up documentation. We never went to church, but we celebrated Christmas and I said prayers at night until I was about 10.
Having a child has really made me think about these things. Sandy's sister has inspired me to think about them as well. She seems to be a very well adjusted 16 year old girl (which I didn't think was possible)who is very involved in church and private Christian school and seems to generally like both of these things. Not to mention we attended her 16th birthday party and there were like 40 kids there. I don't want Alex to miss out on a rewarding part of his life or a chance to make good stable friendships because his parents can't get their spiritual acts together. Sometimes I wonder if I had gone to church if I wouldn't have been more involved (not that I wasn't in a million clubs anyway), but maybe it would have kept me out of more trouble in my later high school years. On the other hand I don't want to feel like he's guilted or forced to go to church.
Also, how do you know what type of church to go to if you don't know much about it in the first place? My family was/is Catholic but you have to go through quite a few sacraments to become a member of the Catholic church. I'm not sure if it's the same for regular Christian church. I also don't think that's a good reason to go to church. I've been to quite a few Catholic masses, but just because that's what I'm used to does not seem like a good reason to pick a Catholic church. Plus I'm not sure what the rules are about exploring new churches. Sunday is one of my Alex days and if I go to church he's coming with me. However I don't just want to show up to a new church with my 9 month old and expect to be able to really figure out if I like it or not.
Sorry about the rambling nature of this post, I guess my general questions are 1. How do you get faith? 2. How do you pick which type you want? and 3. How important is it to raising a well adjusted happy child?
Please comment, I'm really interested in what people have to say about all this stuff.
I know a few people who have a pretty strong faith and they seem to be generally more happy with their lives. I think that this would be a good way to be, but I'm unsure of how to go about acquiring faith. Does it have to just come to you or something? I guess I believe in God, but it's more because the general idea has been engrained in me since childhood but without any kind of back up documentation. We never went to church, but we celebrated Christmas and I said prayers at night until I was about 10.
Having a child has really made me think about these things. Sandy's sister has inspired me to think about them as well. She seems to be a very well adjusted 16 year old girl (which I didn't think was possible)who is very involved in church and private Christian school and seems to generally like both of these things. Not to mention we attended her 16th birthday party and there were like 40 kids there. I don't want Alex to miss out on a rewarding part of his life or a chance to make good stable friendships because his parents can't get their spiritual acts together. Sometimes I wonder if I had gone to church if I wouldn't have been more involved (not that I wasn't in a million clubs anyway), but maybe it would have kept me out of more trouble in my later high school years. On the other hand I don't want to feel like he's guilted or forced to go to church.
Also, how do you know what type of church to go to if you don't know much about it in the first place? My family was/is Catholic but you have to go through quite a few sacraments to become a member of the Catholic church. I'm not sure if it's the same for regular Christian church. I also don't think that's a good reason to go to church. I've been to quite a few Catholic masses, but just because that's what I'm used to does not seem like a good reason to pick a Catholic church. Plus I'm not sure what the rules are about exploring new churches. Sunday is one of my Alex days and if I go to church he's coming with me. However I don't just want to show up to a new church with my 9 month old and expect to be able to really figure out if I like it or not.
Sorry about the rambling nature of this post, I guess my general questions are 1. How do you get faith? 2. How do you pick which type you want? and 3. How important is it to raising a well adjusted happy child?
Please comment, I'm really interested in what people have to say about all this stuff.