Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Why Should I Care?

Last night after reading the favorite picks of both the kids with them, I pulled out our Qu'ran memorization book. We don't do this every night, but it's something that is important to me that I hope the kids will learn. We recite the verses in Arabic and then I read them the translation so they can learn them. My son used to love doing this but lately he has not been as interested.

He said, Why should I care about God?

I said, "God loves you and takes care of you."

God doesn't take care of me.

Who takes care of you?

Mommy.

I said, "Well who takes care of mommy?"

Mommy.

I didn't push the issue with him, but I went to bed feeling very sad. I felt like between his Episcopalian school, our UCC church and my Muslim beliefs and activities that I had God covered. But perhaps my own disbelief in God's ability to take care of me has rubbed off on my son.

6 comments:

  1. Your cutie is at the age where he is making up his own mind about stuff. R told me a couple of days ago, "You know I don't believe all the same things you do, right?" I told him that was okay, just as long as we always talk about it.

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  2. At a certain point, I felt like I'd taken on the role of God in the lives of my children. I depended on God. They depended on me. I stepped back now and hope they find something bigger than me to lean on. Great post.

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  3. Mm...I think he needs to sort it out for himself. And it will change throughout his life, what he believes about God.

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  4. Unlike adults, children are concrete thinkers. They report only what they see.

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  5. He will eventually come to have his own spirituality. I did not develop mine until I came to Al-Anon.

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  6. To Anonymous - Children are concrete thinkers until the age of seven. At or around 7 their brains are developed to the point that they understand abstract concepts, like God.

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