My step-sister and her husband decided to have Roblox Girl and Sir Laughs His Ass Off come stay this past weekend. As we’re a one car family, I opted to meet them halfway to drop off the kids. Along the way, Roblox Girl and I began to have a lengthy discussion on life, death and our own particular viewpoints on such things.
As is pretty well-known, I’m an atheist. However, I have always let my children choose their own path in life. They’ve attended church with Grandpa when he was alive and, other than the donuts, they really didn’t see any reason to go. At Aunt and Uncle’s place, they attend church on Sunday – they are of the Mormon faith. Roblox Girl wanted so much to see her aunt, uncle and cousin but really was not looking forward to church. I made a point of telling her that every person on this planet has a different viewpoint and belief system. I informed her that it’s important to grow as a person by experiencing those different viewpoints and beliefs.
So, the discussion veered off into a slightly related topic – she asked what I believed as a kid. Honestly? I don’t exactly know. I told her of laying on the front yard with a magnifying glass and watching the bugs and ants. I kept thinking about how our front yard was like a city block for a bug; our block, a city; our city, a world … well you get the picture. And I always thought about how we never spend but a fleeting moment thinking about those bugs and ants on a daily basis. What would make an omnipotent being any different? At this point Roblox Girl said she wasn’t sure if there was a higher power or not. I told her that’s agnostic – she seemed happier knowing there’s a label for this belief.
Roblox Girl impressed me with her deep thought processes. She said she’d often think about what would happen at death. She says she’s not afraid but is curious as to what it would be like to just be nothing. After a while, she said she had to stop thinking about it – it was twisting her brain too much LOL She says she’d like to think there’s something after we die but doesn’t think it has anything to do with a higher power.
There’s something to be said for letting our children find their own paths in life. It’s very difficult to peg down what my oldest and my youngest think – most likely due to their ages at the moment. But my twelve year old girl seems to be doing a lot of deep thinking and I’m floored occasionally by her own personal viewpoints and beliefs.
What was Sir Laughs His Ass Off doing this whole conversation? Laughing his ass off at some Nintendo DS game. Ya gotta love obliviousness.
