I'm a very spiritual person. Not very religious, but very spiritual. Some people don't understand what the difference is. For me, personally, religion is very structured and has specific rules and usually involves other people, sometimes a lot of other people (ie-church service), being spiritual means I have a personal (and private) connection with a Higher Power, God or whatever you want to call Him. (I don't think He/She/It cares what you call Him, otherwise that means He has an Ego and He doesn't, right? Sorry, don't want to get too deep here and don't want to cause any kind of religious debate, just voicing my opinion.)
Anyway, I prefer not to have a title when it comes to religion. I don't go to church or practice any specific path or faith. I just don't think it's necessary and I haven't found one that I completely 100% agree with. I believe what I believe and I think "God" wants us to be good people and do the right thing. I think it really can be as simple as that. However, the closest "path" I've found would be a form of Native American or some sort of earth based religion. I do my own, private, spiritual things, my own version of prayer, meditation, candles, incense, smudging, etc. My husband feels similar, he's very private, but he mostly considers himself pagan. (For a great website debunking the stereotype of paganism click here. Pagans do not worship the devil or sacrifice babies, that's so ridiculous.)
So, how were we raised in regards to religion and what do our families think of our choices? (We get asked this a lot.) I was raised in a Christian home, most of my family still practice Christianity, but all of my family supports the choices I make regarding religion/spiritualism. My husband was raised Catholic and also has respect and support from his family regarding his choices.. We're very lucky that we have families that are open minded and supportive regardless of race, religion, sexual preference, hair color, weird piercings or tattoos, pretty much whatever, as long as we're good people.
It's a shame, but our religious/spiritual beliefs partially caused us to delay in approaching foster care. Bottom line, there's a lot of negative stereotype in regards to paganism (and several agencies locally are Christian based.) Luckily, our case worker (and agency) are completely ok with it (as they should be) as long as we're willing to allow the children to practice whatever religion they are used to, comfortable with, prefer, etc. Of course we are and actually look forward to maybe learning about other customs or practices.
I know I don't have a lot of followers yet (I think maybe one...lol), but regardless, I will welcome any questions or comments regarding our beliefs as long as they're respectful. It's sad that I even have to say that, but from experience, I know I have to.
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