2. As ever-evolving children, we will have dramatically different views as to what this means.

It's amazing that people relate at all given the diversity of experiences. Even children in the same family!

I was at my church's All Saints Day service, where I heard the names of eleven congregation members and two family members that died in the last year. It hurt, especially since my family members passed in such a short time that I really didn't get a chance to get used to the idea of them being gone. I was thinking about my friends celebrating Samhain this weekend, and how they were also recognizing their dead. The wall between Christianity and Paganism has always saddened me - we have so much to learn from one another!

I was baptized Catholic at three weeks old, confirmed at twelve. Since then, I've been an Agnostic, Pagan, Unitarian, and most recently, Lutheran. All of these different paths of faith have led me to invaluable realizations about myself, others, earth, life, and the nature of God.

As a Catholic, I learned about prayer, benevolence and persistence.
As an Agnostic, I learned to think and question.
As a Pagan, I learned respect for the Earth and its rhythms, as well as my fellow creatures.
As a Unitarian, I learned about other cultures and uniting themes within humanity.
As a Lutheran, I am learning about all of the above, plus singing. Lots of singing! ;-)

And that's just one person!

It is such a shame that divisions are encouraged and that people fear learning from their brothers and sisters. We all bring something to the table.

The Spirit of God moves in so many different ways.