[Main Blog Post] My Spiritual Path

[jprussell]

So, I'm with some of my kinfolk for the holiday weekend, and I didn't wrap up the editing I was hoping to do before getting here. As such, I want to post something on time, but I may make some edits in the next few days. At any rate, this is a walkthrough of the beliefs I've had over the years, and how they got me to where I am now. This might be super self-indulgent, but I'd like to hear what you think.

As I said, I might make some edits, but in the meantime, let me have it.

Comments

[tamanous2020]

Thank you for the personal background/recap! I find it a good sign that Greer's philosophical polytheism has acted as an effective third choice between materialism on one side and standard monotheism on the other. And props to you for being open which let those experiences occur.

Has your family been curious about your new practices or your new beliefs? Or have they just been happy to see that you're back on your A game?

Tamanous

[jprussell]

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words!

As for my family, my wife finds it a little weird, but is mostly like "hey, if this is what helps you be better, go for it." She's kind of "spiritual, but not religious" in a mostly-Christian-flavored way. My girls are 4.5 and 9 months, so most of their exposure to it so far is that my older daughter sometimes asks me to say a blessing before meals, and when she comes back from daycare talking about stuff she learned about Jesus, I tell her that some folks worship Him, and some don't. That and we sometimes read Norse and Greek myths, and I tell her that I worship more than one God. My approach is to try to get across that lots of folks believe different things, and that's okay, we each have to work it out for ourselves, while being happy to share what works for me when she shows interest.

The rest of my family, like my dad, sister, mother-in-law, and so forth, I mostly don't bring it up, but if they ever asked, I'd talk about it. My wife's aunt and her husband asked me what I believed (she's Egyptian, so Muslim in a fairly laid-back way) and I told them, and things got awkwardly quiet for a few minutes, but we were fine after that.

If I keep blogging about this stuff, though, it may come up more. I guess we'll see.

[tamanous2020]

Sounds like a great approach regarding the kids. I did chuckle at the image of that awkward family encounter. Not often that Islamic background folk run into a polytheistic practioner outside hinduism!