RE: "We represent...." Day 739: 5 Minute Freewrite: Prompt: represent
Outstanding, woman! there's so much that resonates for me in this. I did not have the hellfire and brimstone upbringing you did, no heathen-calling went on in my home, just the "goddamn kids" variety of making us feel small and unworthy. We went to church once every few months when the Greek Orthodox priest came to town and were taught scripture and Greek every Sunday by our Greek mothers. Now that I am thinking of this, and having been through the motherhood phase, I marvel at the dedication these women had to our religious and cultural education. That's an aside.
This notion that an outside entity can hear your THOUGHTS scared the beegeebers out of me, because my thoughts, as the oldest of five, were far from pure and holy.
Wowser leave it to Carol Kean to send me into the stratosphere of thought. Thanks, woman. You DAF.
Oh no, not you! - Adults, parents, teacher, making us feel small and unworthy - humility is good, but not that kind. I know what you mean about the dedication of mothers (and fathers) who model their culture's religious traditions and enforce the teachings. And yes, YES, that was me, not just scared but outraged, indignant, annoyed, and "Lacking in all humility" that the idea of my thoughts being under constant surveillance --- hey --- with Google watching my every move, and new sci-fi-sounding but real tech promising to read our thought, this stuff may become REAL. (Not in my lifetime. Not!)
What stings the most is when believers tell me the only reason I lack the "gift of faith" is that I am arrogant. I presume to doubt, to question. Well, priest have said Catholics don't have to check their brains in at the front door of the church. Good priests I have known anyway, saying to question and to experience doubt is all part of the package. *Even they have their dark night of the soul.
Thank you so much for reading and for your, as usual, insightful and delightful comments. :)