Last weekend I found myself in a place that holds many specific childhood memories and lessons for me. It is an old Roman Catholic church dating for the 1940s that now serves as a regional art center. The parish that once occupied the church built a new building in the 1980s. Some of my earliest childhood memories are tied to the old church building.
At one time, my parents actually liked doing something social on Saturday nights without their small children. Our babysitter Joyce, who also conveniently happened to live next-door, didn’t mind watching us on Saturday nights IF my parents allowed her to take my little sister and I to church. My family is Protestant, United Methodist actually, and Joyce and her family are/were Roman Catholic. They may not have known it at the time, but my parents allowed me to question religious differences at an early age. The experiences I had attending church with my neighbors taught me many valuable lessons.
The small town in which I grew up is predominantly Roman Catholic. As a result, I found myself envying my childhood friends that were Catholic. Childhood friends of mine who are/were Catholic knew Joyce from church catechism classes. In fact, she taught third grade catechism for nearly 30 years. Quite simply, I wanted to be like my childhood friends shopping for first communion dresses and spending time with Joyce in her classroom. At the time, I didn’t understand the differences between Catholics and Protestants.
In time, I would learn the differences well, but I continue not to understand a society in which Catholics and Protestants don’t get along. Unfortunately, I’ve followed world political events for as long as I can remember. I distinctly remember the violence between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland still being an issue when I was a child. I could never fully comprehend it.
Not only were my neighbors Catholic, most of my childhood friends were Catholic. Many of my extended family members are Catholic as well. What sense did it make to create superficial barriers between family and friends? I think my early exposure to different organized religions, even if two different mainstream forms of Christianity, caused me to question organized religion as a whole.
The longer I dwell on the topic, the more I have to say. It is amazing when you realize just how profoundly early childhood experiences influence choices/experiences later in life. I’m grateful for all of them.
Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde 