Shabbat Shalom! As I mentioned before, I work at the Jewish Community Center. Because Shabbat is from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, we spend Friday during the day leading the preschoolers in Shabbat activities.
We put a “tablecloth” on their lunch table and have them use markers, crayons, or chalk to decorate the it for the meals. Then we turn out the lights, light the candles, sing songs and say Shabbat prayers. The kids have snack, and then Marc comes with his guitar and sings his original Jewish children’s songs. We serve grape juice with lunch and challah with each meal on Fridays.
Tomorrow, like every fall Saturday, my husband and I will take my son to my parents’ house. My sister will come over too, with or without her boyfriend, and my grandmother usually comes as well. And we’ll all watch the OSU football game.
On Sunday we’ll all go to church: my grandmother to her Lutheran church, my parents (and often my sister) to their Unity church – no, it’s not the same as Unitarian; I’ll explain later – and my husband and I will take our son to the Catholic church where we are all members. My “new” family (my son isn’t quite one yet) and I get up a little earlier than we’d all like, put on nice clothes, and attend Mass for an hour. If we have a little extra money in the bank, we’ll go to brunch afterwards. Sometimes we’ll talk a little about the homily in the car on the way home.
Where does my religion fit into all this? That’s a good question, and one I’ve been trying to answer (more by my actions than my words) since my sophomore year in college or so. It was then, after two years of having fellow Wiccans and Pagans to talk to and practice my faith with, that I lost my companions – and thus my motivation to continue practicing in more than just an I’ll-pray-and-meditate-when-I-remember kind of way.
Since then, I’ve tried several times to motivate myself to practice on a regular basis, but each time I’ve come up short. I miss the community, both for the friendship and the reason to participate in spiritual activities outside my own mind. I miss being active in my faith.
Yes, I do pray when I think about it, and meditate when I have time. But I’d like a routine, maybe even a weekly one, like those of my family members.
I’ll let you know how that goes.
Blessed be,
Spirit
Note: I included watching OSU football games in the list of weekly religious activities not to be sacrilegious, but to point out that many football fans take their fandom to extreme levels – much like some religious adherents of any religion.
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