Religious Education Update: October 29, 2006
Interconnections Across Time-
I often think of my paternal grandparents, people I never met. I have visited their gravesites and marveled at the beauty of what was their backyard, Bryce Canyon in Utah.
My grandparents gave birth to my father, the thirteenth child in the family, in 1906. There were three parents in the family at the time, my grandparents and my grandmother’s younger sister, who was also married to my grandfather. The three of them happily practiced polygamy for twenty-five years, at a time in which Utah had prohibited the institution. They were active in the Mormon Church, and together raised thirteen of their fifteen children to adulthood.
They came from hearty Welsh stock, and raised their children to be strong and ethical people. Their circumstances were much more challenging than my own. In 1906, when my father was an infant, their houses didn’t have indoor plumbing or central heating. They grew much of their own food and sewed their own clothing. However, they saved their pennies and were able to send just one child on a Mormon mission- my father. My father went on the mission, preached on street corners in Appalachia, lost his faith, left the church, and refused any involvement in organized religion for the rest of his life.
I am fortunate to have copies of my grandparents’ journals, so that I can read about their lives in their own writing. I am also fortunate to have their strong Welsh DNA in each of my cells, which will, hopefully, allow me to live into my eighties or nineties, as they did.
Many of my beliefs come from my grandfather, through my father. Grandfather believed in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. He befriended the Native Americans who lived in Southern Utah, unlike most of the other white people of his time. Grandfather served on the county school board, working to improve children’s lives. As a farmer and sheepherder, he had a deep respect for the earth which provided his livelihood. He made up his own mind about religion, rejecting some Mormon dogma.
My lifetime doesn’t overlap with theirs, but I still feel their legacy, both biologically and philosophically. I see my legacy in my children. My reddish hair reappears in my older son’s beard. My children are religiously and politically liberal. I truly hope that I will meet my grandchildren someday, and know that I may even see a legacy in them. Each of us has an inherited legacy from our ancestors, and we all impact the lives that will come after us, in many ways, large and small. Will we do what we can to protect the earth that future generations will inherit from us? Will we build a society that values every individual? In today’s celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, let us remember the gifts of past generations and be mindful of our responsibilities towards generations yet to be born.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
I often think of my paternal grandparents, people I never met. I have visited their gravesites and marveled at the beauty of what was their backyard, Bryce Canyon in Utah.
My grandparents gave birth to my father, the thirteenth child in the family, in 1906. There were three parents in the family at the time, my grandparents and my grandmother’s younger sister, who was also married to my grandfather. The three of them happily practiced polygamy for twenty-five years, at a time in which Utah had prohibited the institution. They were active in the Mormon Church, and together raised thirteen of their fifteen children to adulthood.
They came from hearty Welsh stock, and raised their children to be strong and ethical people. Their circumstances were much more challenging than my own. In 1906, when my father was an infant, their houses didn’t have indoor plumbing or central heating. They grew much of their own food and sewed their own clothing. However, they saved their pennies and were able to send just one child on a Mormon mission- my father. My father went on the mission, preached on street corners in Appalachia, lost his faith, left the church, and refused any involvement in organized religion for the rest of his life.
I am fortunate to have copies of my grandparents’ journals, so that I can read about their lives in their own writing. I am also fortunate to have their strong Welsh DNA in each of my cells, which will, hopefully, allow me to live into my eighties or nineties, as they did.
Many of my beliefs come from my grandfather, through my father. Grandfather believed in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. He befriended the Native Americans who lived in Southern Utah, unlike most of the other white people of his time. Grandfather served on the county school board, working to improve children’s lives. As a farmer and sheepherder, he had a deep respect for the earth which provided his livelihood. He made up his own mind about religion, rejecting some Mormon dogma.
My lifetime doesn’t overlap with theirs, but I still feel their legacy, both biologically and philosophically. I see my legacy in my children. My reddish hair reappears in my older son’s beard. My children are religiously and politically liberal. I truly hope that I will meet my grandchildren someday, and know that I may even see a legacy in them. Each of us has an inherited legacy from our ancestors, and we all impact the lives that will come after us, in many ways, large and small. Will we do what we can to protect the earth that future generations will inherit from us? Will we build a society that values every individual? In today’s celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, let us remember the gifts of past generations and be mindful of our responsibilities towards generations yet to be born.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
posted by Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma @ 10:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home