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The expectation was in writing. We were to be raised Catholic.
When my parents were married all those many years ago, my father was required to sign a declaration agreeing to raise any and all children of the union as God-fearing Catholics. Being madly in love with my mother and, though a titular Protestant, in practice rather indifferent to formalized religion, he signed where they told him to sign. Future offspring now firmly indentured, the marriage ceremony was soon advanced and they were off to honeymoon on a New Hampshire lake.
Being of devout Catholic stock, my mother dutifully dragged us children to Church each and every Sunday, including the annual Christmas midnight mass and assorted holy days. Dad remained at home during these excursions, having discovered a loophole – the declaration promised the children but said nothing about his own presence. Still, the Church got three for one; not a bad tradeoff.
The “going to church” part of Catholicism didn’t survive adulthood, a tradeoff for the amount of money the Catholic Church has spent settling pedophilia charges against its priests. Ironically, the morals and integrity taught by my parents seems to have taken hold much more intently than did mindlessly repeating the assigned “Amen” and “Lord be with you” as cued in the weekly missal. It certainly wasn’t the forgettable white noise our aged priest called a sermon that inspired me. My inspiration was, and remains, my parents themselves.
My mother found her strength and morality, at least in part, through her strong faith in the Church (though perhaps more so from her strong extended family integrity). My father found his strength and morality from more secular sources, though again perhaps more a function of the lessons learned growing up in a family the size of a small town. Maybe they were innately honest, a sort of genetic trait that appears to be recessive these days. In any case, we should focus more on being moral, being honest, and having integrity in our daily lives, whatever our motivation, be it religious, secular, or something else. Start with yourself, and the rest will come.
Now, that is an expectation worth signing.
David J. Kent is a science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
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Lightness Traveling said:
Well said. Regardless of the source, any meaningful moral-compass must be one we can carry within the self. The trick, it seems, is in dialing-in the proper declination.
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davidjkentwriter said:
Seems a skill lost on much of humanity right now.
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AprilEsutton said:
My parents had a strong but private faith. They never went to church, all their children turned out very active. It is strange how things work out.
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davidjkentwriter said:
As we’ve seen a lot lately, being overtly religious doesn’t make you moral. It comes from believing, feeling, integrating; not merely playing a role for the divine cameras.
But mainly I wrote this in tribute to how my parents, each in their own way, instilled a moral integrity in us offspring, as exemplified by their own lives.
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AprilEsutton said:
They did a fine job. Both of our parents did. It isn’t about a building. It’s about how you live with integrity.
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Relax... said:
The bottom line is, until another church can confect (not memorialize) the Body and Blood of Christ Himself in persona Christi and confer sacred graces not manmade despite the very human vessels delivering them upon pain of death, we remain faithful to the Catholic church (for our own good). She is far more than a workable moral base; She is Mother and Teacher until He comes again. Every religion has sinful men (and women) administrators, as most certainly do the no-god or self-god ideologies. Unfortunately but rightly so, much more is expected of priests than of others, and even one falling can and will be heard around the world forever. It is, of course, a small percentage overall, but shocking. Devastating to victims, yes, and close to that for the rest of us who all know priests and religious who have traded in their every day to serve us.
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Liz Husebye Hartmann said:
“In any case, we should focus more on being moral, being honest, and having integrity in our daily lives, whatever our motivation, be it religious, secular, or something else. ”
Nice!
Yep. I think it has a lot to do with what you choose to pay attention to, and whatever inspires that (self) directed mindfulness.
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thinkinkadia said:
It’s wonderful how you benefitted from two different beliefs under the same roof. I wish people would realize that that’s all it takes to get along, even if the Faith’s are completely different.
It’s all about those common goals of being a good human, and maintaining integrity in face of odds. Thank you👍
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davidjkentwriter said:
Exactly. Being a good person is the key, whether it’s externally or internally motivated.
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thinkinkadia said:
Glad to meet someone who isn’t tip-toeing with teeth gritting smiles around the concept.
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davidjkentwriter said:
I try to live a good, honest life. Most others I know do too.
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thinkinkadia said:
Yes, indeed. I compliment you for that. I meet a diversity of people in my job and travels. And, find that on an average, people are very cautious or sensitive about religion. Thank you.
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Red Lotus Girl said:
Three for 1….LOL.. The church is smart like that ;-).
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davidjkentwriter said:
Yup. They are.
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