So it dawned on me when I was pregnant with Angus that I’d have to cook up some explanation about God and who s/he is and what our relationship is to him/her.  You know, from someone who isn’t completely clear on that, even on a good day.

And then I promptly forgot about it.  Angus is almost 4 and I hadn’t tackled my God Job.  

But I remembered when I was at Kripalu and the topic of God came up.  People were talking about their views and it ranged from “Brought Up In a Strictly Religious Household And Now An Atheist Dammit”, to “Brought Up In A God-Who? Household And Now I Make It Up As I Go Along”.  It was so interesting. 

Then someone talked about going through a period of suicidal depression and one of the key things for him was how the divine was described in his yoga class.  Their yoga teacher talked about how when they say Namaste at the end of the class, they’re symbolically recognizing and showing respect for the spark of the divine that’s in each of us. And he said this made a difference for him.  He didn’t say specifically, but it enough to keep him from going down the self-destruct road.

And that reminded me of my God Job.  Because whatever it was for that guy that kept him from offing himself - I want that for Gussie.  I don’t want him to believe in an Old White  Vindictive Control-Freak God.  I just want him to believe that there’s some unifying force in the universe, you know? 

I want him to know that who we are and what we do while we’re here has some meaning beyond just shuffling around this dusty planet until we die.  Because I absolutely believe there’s *something* and you can call it whatever you like.  But I figured since Angus doesn’t have the heavy-duty religious baggage, why not use “God”.  It’s simple.  And he might have a hard time saying “unifying force in the universe”.  I just want him to have enough of a basis that he has something to throw out later, or build on when he gets curious about learning things for himself. 

So I’ve started telling him that God is everywhere and there’s also a little piece of God right in here - and I point to his chest.  And I say there’s also a little piece of God right in here - and I point to my chest.  I tell him that everyone has a little piece of God inside.

I also got him a book about blessing people and things.  I told him that blessing someone means that you want the very very best for them because you care about them.  So after we read the book and count all the people and things we think of other people and things we can bless.  We bless Jim the lizard because he’s a good pet.  We bless Grandma and Grandpa.  We bless the basketball that he sleeps with.  His cousin.  And anyone else that comes to mind.

I don’t know if I’m doing enough or doing the right thing, but at least I’ve started my God Job.