This weekend was a food fest like I have not experienced in a while (aside from the beautiful Italian Christmas feast I was included in a few months ago).
This past weekend housed both the beginning of Passover and Easter. That means I had a seder with my family on Saturday night (we had to skip Friday because mama wasn't feeling too hot) then I skipped on over to M's house for Easter dinner and a basket full of candy. There was brisket, soup, ham, lamb, pasta, pie, and birthday cake. Had I taken any pictures, I would share them (or maybe not since it seems I never share pictures on here. Sorry.) Everything was so delicious and I ended up driving home around 6pm and immediately passing out for 2 1/2 hours.
With a Jewish mother and Catholic father, I tend to dabble in both holiday worlds. I fully consider myself Jewish so the religious aspects of "dad's holidays" are fairly lost on me but I do enjoy the perks of Christmas dinner and presents, a King cake on Fat Tuesday and candy on Easter. The Jewish holidays hold more water to me and are times of prayer as well as celebration. I have always been taught more about them and I feel that, for me, understanding has brought belief.
That being said, I acknowledge that everyone has their own religious beliefs that they are entitled to. I don't think one religion makes more rational sense then another. I see them all as a set of beliefs put into place to help people. The idea of a higher power and the solidarity of belonging to a particular sect can be, at the minimum, a source of comfort, especially in times of sadness or difficulty. When observed, most religions hold the same basic moral standards and I find those to be the most important. So regardless of titles, religious ethics and moral standards are what link us together.
About a year ago, I had to have an important conversation with somebody in my life and it brought all these issues to light. I had never really taken a serious look at my religious beliefs or considered how they could (or should) affect my life decisions, especially if they didn't "match" what others close to be believed. My argument was similar to what I just said above. In the more specific matter of having children with someone of another religion, I believe it is more about specific teachings rather than grand labels. He did not feel the same way and that lack of faith in our future came to light in a terrible way. Ever since, this has been an issue I have had to consider and reconsider.
At the same time, I feel far too young to have to worry about that. I might use that as an excuse to avoid a few of my more "mature" issues.
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