Yesterday, Zosia said grace for the first time. She said, "Thank you, Jesus." And then, "Amen." It was cute and funny, but has gotten me thinking about how we hope to teach Zosia about God. Up until now, she has seen us saying grace, and gone to church with us, and but I don't think she's really absorbed much of it. But now that she's at the age when she's starting to really understand things, I'm wondering how we go about all of this.
We have the Jesus books. And I do hope that she starts to understand the stories about Jesus and grow to love Jesus. But what about God? How do we do it? How do we start to share with her our own understanding of an all-loving God that is neither male nor female but somehow encompasses all things? (and yes, I realize that Jesus is God, but you know what I mean). And how do we do it in a way that can be within the context of "Church" but is not limited by the limitations that our Church seems to have? How do I explain to her that only men are priests, when that is something that I so passionately disagree with? What will that teach her about God?
Ben and I had a crisis of faith when we learned we were expecting a girl. We just couldn't imagine brining a woman up in a church that is so patriarchal and misogynistic. And now that we have been entrusted with not one but two girls, the problem feels even more serious. Ben is now Catholic. I am still Catholic. We love this Church, but how can we be honest with God and ourselves while belonging to it?
Maybe tonight I'll encourage Zosia to say grace again and have her say, "Thank you, Mother God." That would be a start. And we'll deal with the rest as we go.
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