While my family followed all the Christian holidays I can honestly say I don't know what they really believed spiritually. As a child the only religion I was exposed to was going to the synagogue with my best friend who was Jewish. While she slept through every Friday night service, I was totally enthralled with the Hebrew being spoken and the Jewish culture. I also loved spending time with her family for high holidays like: Hanukkah, Passover and Rosh Hashanah. Her family had something I did not get at home: spirituality. I am eternally grateful for that experience and their loving inclusion of this Shiksa.
While I never became a Jew...even though I tried... I was desperate to have a bat mitzvah (I mean the party and presents), but you should have seen my southern grandma's face when I announced I intended to have one at Easter brunch...needless to say that was the end of that idea. They may not have gone to church, but there was no way in hell their granddaughter was becoming a Jew.
I will say... my mom was really cool about it, and she told me I could follow any religion I wanted. That is one of the great things about my mom she always allowed me the space to be a free thinker, even if it differed from the rest of the family.
Through my years of searching I find myself consistently drawn to the teachings of Jesus. (Go figure...and it turns out that he was a Jew) I'm not fond of labels, so when I am asked about my religious pursuasion, I claim to be independent, just like my political affiliation. It really doesn't matter though... because what I know for sure is that I believe in God, and I know God loves me no matter what I call myself. That being said, this blog is not about religion, but finding ways to connect more as a family.
For several years we home schooled our two boys and during that time I was introduced to this amazing program by a close friend. I was looking for a way to nourish my family's soul when we were going through some very hard times.
I believe one of my jobs as a parent is to nourish their spirits. The Family Virtues Guide is a tool to help me do just that. Here are just a few of the virtues included in the book:
LOVE, COMPASSION, HONESTY, AND FORGIVENESS
This nugget of a book is filled with 52 virtues that are shared by all the major religions...I love when we can find what is similar versus what is different. While the goal is to do one virtue a week... it has not always worked out that well for us. Lately, though we have been trying to do one every Sunday night before bedtime. We sit in our comfy living room, dim the lights, place candles around the room and my husband facilitates the discussion. We end with reciting The Voice (see earlier blog for more on this amazing poem).
It usually lasts about 30 minutes and it has never been a disappointment. How many things can you say that about? (Even though we have had some heated discussions...can you say teenage testosterone) The discussion points in the book have helped my kids to open up and talk about things they would normally keep inside. We are so much closer as a family because of this guide.
We have even created a piece of artwork to commemorate each virtue by adding a leaf to our tree with the virtue of the week written on it (you can see we have a ways to go). Below is a picture of our unfinished tree. Our goal is to keep rotating through the book each year and make one tree for every child as a gift when they leave for college, or where ever life leads them...so long as they don't live at home forever. (See Failure to Launch or better yet Step Brothers and you will get my drift)
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| Our Virtue Tree (inspired by Jen Garrido...inspired being the operative word) |
Many blessings to you all. I also want to thank my good friend Karin who turned me onto this amazing book, and to my mom who always allowed me the space to explore my spirituality without judgment.
"The Family Virtues Guide is....about virtues, which are universally valued by all faiths and cultures in the world. Virtues are the silver thread running through all of humanity's sacred literature as well as the oral traditions of the world's indigenous peoples. Virtues are described as the qualities of the soul and the attributes of God. They are the means by which we can reflect the image and likeness of the Creator. They are also considered a very high order of angels." page xxi The Family Virtues Guide
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