Day 357 of 365
What’s the word?
Just over a year ago I was having a discussion with my mother about religion. She was brilliant at keeping her journey of faith separate from religion so much so that all I could ever feel was love.
I have felt rejected by the church since realizing that my gender prevented me from becoming a priest.
I was 5 years old.
Why am I sharing this? On my 357th day I am fulfilling a commitment I made to my mother based in faith but focused on religion. That discussion I had with her circles back to a book she sent to me. Since December 2017 when mom became ill I’ve avoided looking at the book. When I opened it this morning, at the airport in Scotland, I cried because she and I will never have the discussion we’d planned. I miss her wisdom. I aspire to have the level of faith that guided her through her last days. The book was published on September 23, 1967 almost 1 year before my birth. It’s so fitting that it will become one of my final experiences on this journey. On day one of my 365 I took a huge leap of faith that I could make it through the year filling each 24 hour period with something new.
Faith is personal.
This adventure has been personal and yet I’ve shared so many highs and lows in this blog. The Formation of Scripture by Barnabas Ahern was my experience for the day and what an experience it was. I wish mom was sitting beside me so we could discuss all the curiosities this tiny 80 page publication invoked. I am not a scholar. I don't have much use for organized religion which was the subject of many conversations with my mom. The Formation of Scripture sounds a little dry but as I continued to read I was struck by the timeliness of the subject and also by how dated it is and I wondered when mom read this for the first time. Most of today’s experience created more questions than answers. I guess I’ll have to learn to live with that. Mom planted another seed. She was a master gardener and her green thumb moved well beyond the vegetation of her garden. Day 357 Love & Light
