The Spiritual Nature of Kids These Days: Why I love Millenials and Z's.

When my first child was a small baby I attended a Unity Church outside of Denver. It was a really wonderful community with a message that really resonated with me. One Sunday the pastor told a story that I imagine many of you have heard before.

There was a little boy whose parents had just had a second baby. The boy was little. Maybe 2 or 3. He seemed to be adjusting quite well to the new addition to the family and wasn’t showing any signs of jealousy, but he kept asking his parents to leave him alone with the baby. It was sort of an unnerving request. If you’ve never had kids, toddlers are a shady bunch. You just never know with them. After a couple weeks of no incidents, the parents decided to honor the request but stay just outside the barely cracked door to listen and watch. They were rewarded for their trust with a beautiful scene. The boy sat on the couch with his sister carefully tucked in beside him so she couldn’t fall. He leaned over to her and whispered, “Can you help me remember what God is like? I have almost forgotten.”

I’ve no idea where that story originated, but it makes me cry almost every time. In the eyes of a newborn baby, there is a peace and a presence that is simply not there for the rest of us. Fresh from the factory, they have not been hardened by this world filled with fear, anger, and other results of the illusion of separation. This connection lasts a few years. The more it’s nurtured, the longer it lasts.

I grew up in the Baptist church. Of course, to each their own, but because I was raised in a very structured religious environment, I was pretty well told exactly what to think about God. There wasn’t really a period of open exploration. As an adult, I have mostly what someone might label as metaphysical or mystical Christian beliefs. I don’t really want to go into a lot of detail about all that right now. My main point is that I don’t really tell my kids what to believe about God. As they get older, they ask questions, and we talk about it then, but I try to leave it open ended and let them figure out their own path. Awesomely, this means they come out with some pretty mind blowing stuff, especially when they're really little. In fact, I have noticed a growing spiritual consciousness in young ones. They seem to understand more at a younger age.

One of my favorite stories from my own children was from my second child. She was always quiet and shy around others, but very open and talkative with me. She had gifts as a small child. She knew things before they happened. At some point she just started to tell me about what it was like before she was born. She said it was like a giant store, and you had to go through and pick from crates the color of hair and eyes, what kind of body and skin, and then you had to pick your parents. She said she knew right away that I was the right mom for her. Just now we were talking about it, and she told me that, if it made me feel better, I had picked my depression as well. She would often talk about what it was like in the store and why she made the choices she did. She was very nonchalant about it and very clear in the memory. She now says it is her earliest memory and that it remains very clear. She also often talked openly about death. She was very clear that she was not at all afraid of death because there was nothing to be afraid of. When a young friend died of cancer when my daughter was only 5 or 6, she was very sad about the loss, but she remained unafraid.

My girl back in the day

These days she has a very solid understanding of the power of her thoughts and words. She doesn't like the woo woo stuff I listen to, but she has an incredibly solid grasp on the principles. She uses positive thoughts and energy all the time. She has manifested miracles in airports and also gotten us through some of the enormous puddles and mud bogs on our road. Lest you think this is some small feat, the puddles sometimes reach the bottom of the car door. Probably a solid 2' of water. Puddle isn't really the right word. She just sends positive energy and constantly repeats positive phrases to me, and we make it through. It's mostly used for mechanical and electronic devices at this point, but she has solid grasp of a concept at 16 that I had never even heard of until I was in my mid 20's. She also has an incredible gift for Reiki. She and I have cured all kinds of illnesses and ailments, emotional and physical, together. Her energy is really strong. She regularly puts her brother to sleep with it.

Growing up in a pretty strictly religious family, they couldn’t imagine choosing to raise kids as I have. When my oldest was 4, I was still living in Colorado. We went back to the south to visit my family. My granny had just died a few months before, and I had been unable to come to her funeral, so we were heading to her grave so I could go say hi and tell her how much I loved and missed her. My son was riding to the cemetery in a different car, and apparently the topic of Jesus came up. So, he asked who Jesus was. They seemed amused but scolded me all the same for slacking in his religious education. It just hadn’t come up. It was actually really refreshing to have an open and honest conversation about God and Jesus with a 4 year old who hadn't actually thought much about it and didn't have any opinions or preconceived notions. I can also say that I was really glad I hadn't raised him in the church when his grandfather committed suicide. I remember worrying a lot about whether my grandfather was going to hell when he died because I had a vague idea he hadn't been a particularly good person, and I got vague answers when I grilled people about his relationship with Jesus. I was so glad my son didn't have to deal with that torment. The whole concept of hell as an actual place is so odd to me now.

My one millenial child back in the day

This same boy sat in his first sweat lodge at the age of 8. It was a coed lodge, so I was able to be with him, though we couldn’t sit beside each other. It was a Cherokee lodge, but he had the distinct privilege to sit next to an old Lakota man who was the keeper of Sitting Bull’s pipe. We all held and prayed with that pipe, him included. The Cherokee water pourer whose lodge we were in commented to my boy that he saw what a good son and person he was and that he walked and held himself in a good way. Without missing a beat, he replied, “that’s because I have such a good mom.” I of course sobbed. He was always incredibly aware and very connected to me. He is still very involved in ceremony and believes strongly in the power of prayer and the way God connects us all together. It is likely at least partially the source of his passion for protecting his brothers and sisters and dismantling the oppression of the state and capitalism. All the ceremony is certainly the source of his connection to the earth. When I showed him the songs of the trees at Damanhur, he was overwhelmed with emotion. He is nearing 20, and he has maintained his connection.

Him with his little sister and brand new baby brother 6 years ago today!

My third child is very, um, energetic! He is very physical and often exploding with energy. He is very much in his body and has had a lot of questions and concerns about death. He is most concerned about me dying. He has questioned me again and again about when I am journeying to the spirit world and what will happen once I get there and will I come to visit him. Of course I don't have the answers really, but we talk, and he has finally become quite comfortable with it. Just yesterday he told me that he actually will be five again (he's turning 6 today!) because he is planning to be born again 150 days after he goes to the spirit world at the end of this life. He also asks lots of questions about space to the point that I have tried to explain the red shifting edges of the universe to him. He is fascinated by the creation of the earth and how people came to be. He understands how much our thoughts and attitudes affect our reality. I was recently having a day, and he asked if he could give me a hug and reminded me that always makes things better. He also has an incredible gift for reiki. I had a really awful illness a few months back. I was absolutely bed ridden, which is saying something for me because I don't really know how to sit still. Without prompting, he came right over and started doing reiki for me. It was amazing he had the presence of mind to know that was what I needed, and I was shocked by how much energy was coming from his tiny hands.

The littlest one is just incredibly aware of her own perfect divinity. She understands clearly that she is a pure creation of God and has no doubts about herself at all. Others harassing or picking on her doesn't phase her in the least. Her confidence is absolutely solid. I asked her what she thought about God, and she smiled and said, "Oh, he's the best." I asked her why, and she said, "because he doesn't let me do things for you." Wowsers.

I know they've said a million brilliant and poignant things, and I wish I had written them all down. I'm just not good about stuff like that, but I've felt for a long time that children are becoming more deeply spiritual at younger ages. When I staffed at the school, I noticed it a lot. These kids are maintaining their connection to God or Creator or Allah or however you like to call him/her. They understand the spiritual nature and laws of the universe. They will sit and watch animals or leaves. They realize their connection to each other and to the planet. Taking care of other people, animals, and the earth makes sense to them. Exploiting and destroying don't make sense at all to them, nor does slaving away an entire life to some corporate master. They give me hope. I hope you'll give your child room to explore their relationship with God and always encourage their questions about and connection to the spiritual world.

Today is Solomon's birthday (the number 3 child), so we're off to celebrate in the pool!

All pics mine or Pixabay

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