Religion -- Other people's posts have gotten me to thinking

[wyntir_knight]

It's funny. I was just forcibly reminded of a conversation I had with my Grandmother after I left the High Anglican Church to find my own place in religion.

My Grandmother was a devount Roman Catholic and one of the few people I've known who has what I would call True Faith. It radiated off of her, she just glowed with it. But it wasn't an oppressive faith. She never felt the need to browbeat non Catholics, nor did she feel the need to be evangellical. She had her faith and it gave her comfort until the very end.

Before my mother had me, but after she and my father had moved to Canada, she left the Roman Catholic church. She wanted to remain Christian so she had a long talk with one of the local Roman Catholic priests. The man was surprisingly open and accepting about the whole thing. She told him that she no longer agreed with the Pope or the beliefs of the Catholics, but she did want to main in a religion that was familiar. He told her (and according to my mother this is a direct quote): "Well, your choices are simple. You can join the High Anglican or the Orthodox Church. And, my dear, you do not have the knees to be Orthodox."

So my brother and I were raised Anglican. We attended church like good little children, and while Father David Salter was there it was good (another person who radiated faith). But then he died, and we had a whole slew of other priests, and life was boring and church was a chore. Finally after both my brother and I had both received our First Communion, my parents gave us the choice, to stay or go. I chose to go. Dave became a lapse Christian. He's now attending again because his wife is relegious.

I was 13 at the time and I remember what my Grandmother said to me. "So. I hear you don't believe in God anymore?" It led to a wonderful conversation. She wasn't attacking in any way, she was just playing the Devil's Advocate, asking that I justify my decision. That conversation meant a lot to me, possibly more than she ever knew.

I'm still not entirely sure I know where I belong. I do wish that she was still alive, that we'd had more time to talk ...

Comments

[m-danson.livejournal.com]

It seems that we have more in common than I thought. Perhaps coffee sometime?

I've met people like your grandmother. They are utterly wonderful and when my life has brushed up against theirs I've come away better for it. It's nice to know that they exist.

[wyntir-rose.livejournal.com]

Coffe sometimes sounds good.

Yeah, my grandmother was quite the woman :)

[tiamat1972.livejournal.com]

I wish there were more people like your Grandmother. She sounds like she was wonderful.

[wyntir-rose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she was cool beyond words :)