“Thou art G-d!” (TAG)
My eldest son, Joshua, doesn’t agree with this. In fact, he seems violently opposed to my belief system.
Why is that?
His brothers, Jordan and Jesse (aka, “the twins), seem to be neutral about it. They have never said anything to me, one way or another, concerning it. This may mean that they believe it is so stupid that they are refraining from commenting on it in order to save my feelings. Or, it might mean they agree with it. Or, it might mean that they feel that they don’t understand enough about it, and so are refraining from judgement. I just don’t know.
Now Joshua likes to put words in their mouths. For example, he has stated that, in the past, the twins have said, “All Dad cares about is scenery.” He has also stated that the twins think I am, well, nuts, to believe such ridiculous things about G-d. They’ve never spoked to me at all about what they think about what I believe. Nor do they react to any of the memes I have shared on Facebook regarding TAG (as Josh does quite a bit). So, I don’t really know what they think, and I don’t think I can totally trust what Joshua says about this because Joshua has an agenda in opposition to my belief system. The thing is, Joshua doesn’t really know what I believe. He only hears part of what I say, so he doesn’t actually grok it all, and thereby jumps to some wrongful conclusions.
On the other hand, this could partially be the reason that they are resistant to bringing their families out to meet me here in California. They don’t want their kids exposed to my belief system. Actually, for Jordan, this makes a lot of sense, since he and Nikki are Pastors and all, and they therefore have a vested interest in their own belief system. On the other hand (again), if their belief system is so solid, so true, why be so protective of it?
For Jesse it’s maybe a different story. Unlike Jordan and Joshua, he has become a Catholic. He therefore subscribes to a much broader belief system, which, when his Mother and I were involved in Catholicism, sometimes alluded to the idea of us being G-d. A song which I used to play and lead at Mass states: “Where do I see G-d?” “I see G-d in you, in the things you do, in things you say and way you play it is true,” “I see G-d in me; I see G-d in you.”
So, there is that.
I actually have no direct contact with any of my grandchildren. This is partially my fault, I suppose, because I haven’t ever actually sought out such contact. Also, I’ve never sent them any greetings on their birthdays, or presents, nor Christmas presents. Mainly because I haven’t been able to financially afford such expenditures. Also, I have no clue as to what I would buy them, what they would want or need. When I first came to California, I mainly had minimum wage jobs, and now my sole income is Social Security, so there is no extra income to spend. If not for Medicare, I wouldn’t be able to afford my basic living expenses. This is not to say I haven’t tried increasing my worth (you can read about that HERE). Things just haven’t worked out (this is also why I haven’t been able to travel outside of California). But, I’m not complaining. It is what it is, and I accept, thankfully, what I have and do not lust for more.
Now, Joshua would say that it is because I believe what I believe that that is the reason I am in the financial condition I am in. That might be, except that I used to believe the same as Joshua (a long time ago)* and I was no better off then than I am now.
So far, they haven’t unfollowed me, or unfriended me on Facebook, and among my Grandchildren, only Jalen and Isaiah (Joshua’s sons) have a Facebook account. I’m pretty sure Isaiah agrees with his Dad (plus, as an adult he had bought into the whole American Capitalist paradigm). I don’t know how Jalen feels about anything. I have thought about sharing Stranger In A Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlein) with him, but the book is now so dated (and, for a Science Fiction novel, missing so much modern technology) that the central theme is likely to be lost. Plus, Heinlein was a bit of a libertarian, and I wouldn’t want to expose any of my grand progeny to that mess.
So, I will continue to promote “Thou art G-d” to my friends and followers on Facebook, and the members of the Reformed Druids of Gaia, knowing that is unlikely that any of my Grand progeny is likely to be exposed, and also knowing that if any of them would travel out here to visit and meet me, it is unlikely the subject would even come up.
So, that is that I guess. Is that “that?”
* Actually this is not quite true. Even as a “Born Again Xtian” (A condition that lasted from my 18th birthday until my Saturn return) I believed that we are all intimately connected to G-d. I also have always believed in reincarnation, having had too many personal experiences with the phenomenon to believe anything else.
