I have a memory of looking up into the darkness of nighttime, into the heavens, and being scared. I was four-years old and with my parents in our front yard. We were gathered under the stars to watch a lunar eclipse with our neighbors.
I wasn't afraid of the moon becoming dark. This intrigued me. But my dad told me the darkness of the universe, with its scattering of stars, never ended. It scared me that it was so big and I was so small. This is my first awareness of the immensity of the universe.
I wondered if a person could drift off into space and be lost forever. I think my dad reassured me gravity would hold me to the earth, so I didn't need to worry. But that feeling of smallness never left me. It was the beginning of my sense of being part of something greater. Somehow I realized, as young as I was, that this vast and endless universe was created.
At an early age I realized the existence of God. It wasn't a concept taught to me, it was a realization deep within me. Somehow, my tiny soul was connected to this vastness. It wasn't something I articulated or thought on until later in life.
Your Life Do you have a recollection of God as a child? Perhaps you were brought up in a religious, God-believing family. Perhaps not. My wife, Susan, had a sense she was part of a big storybook. That her life was being watched by someone reading this storybook as she lived her life out.
I didn't grow up in a religious family, but we believed in God. Well, sort of. My mom had a definite belief based on her up raising, and yet, her dad, a family physician, had a more scientific mind than spiritual. My dad had a belief, but it was wrapped up in Christian Science religious thought. More science as spirituality, than traditional religion.
What was your family like? Did you grow up believing God, or ardently not believing? Was there a general indifference towards God in your family? Perhaps you saw children going to Sunday school and families going to church, and wondered what that was all about. I don't know until you share your story with me.
I'd like to hear your story... really.
Just put it in the comments section or send me a message via email– trip@word-strong.com — Who knows, it just might make it into a book!
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This is an excerpt of a first draft of a book-in-the-writing. I'd appreciate your feedback (constructive please) ;-) via the comments section. Thanks for reading!