Faith and Family Go Hand in Hand

I'm a person of faith. During the early times of my life, faith meant going on trust, no evidence, just a 'hunch' of sorts. It took a lot to bring me to where I am today. A lifetime, in fact.

Today my world of faith comes from knowing. There have been so many things that have led me to the path I walk, so much that showed me what to believe, verified what was correct, honorable, right. And yet, the moments I most need to lean on my faith, it is there. If I doubt, which happens now and again (a reminder that I'm human), I look to my family, my life, my experiences, and hold tight. My family is one place my faith resides. I see the work of the Creator in our lives, and in each member of my family.

And my family has a strange sort of faith mixed in our every day lives, and I thought I'd share it. First, there are 5 of us in this house. My husband and I attend ceremonies (we've been together just shy of six years), our 18 year old (mine by birth, his by love) doesn't know the details of what he does believe, but in his words, "I've seen too much to think there isn't anything out there. I've seen too many people healed through these ceremonies to not believe in them...but they aren't right for me right now." Our 17 year old (my husband's great neice by birth, ours by love) doesn't speak of faith often, but she attends ceremonies. When she was little she went to lodges, but now she isn't really called to. She attends family ceremonies and such, and sometimes will come for women's lodges. Our 4 year old is being raised ina sort of mixed tradition. He's being raised as a part of the dominant culture, he's being raised around ceremonies, being told the stories of both Oneida and Lakota tradition, and taught how to live in relation to the earth.

We talk about our place in creation, that we are the youngest of all creation, and the responsibility that we have to honor all creation. We talk about our responsibility to not judge others, because it isn't our place; our job is to live the best life we can and take care of our duties. And when I read this it sounds so stodgy, not fun...practically bible-thumping. But it isn't. Our duty isn't difficult. We respect the world we live in and it's inhabitants. We do the best we can, and there is no shame in mistakes. There is no shame anywhere, actually.

I think we learn forgiveness by teaching it; learn responsibility by showing it; learn gratitude by living it. These things that are thought 'negative' are teachers for us. It's knowing where you are and who you are before you can know how to behave when the unthinkable happens. And even then, we're still human, and might still have a thing or two to learn.