Saturday, November 22, 1997

Exposure to church will be beneficial for child

By Joy Thompson

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

A fellow Long Beach Press-Telegram columnist, Ralph De La Cruz, recently described his wrestling over the idea of taking his 4-year-old son to church. His ambivalence toward organized religion, particularly the teachings of the Catholic Church, is what has caused him to avoid the subject, until now.

However, Ralph finally decides to start attending Catholic services on a more regular basis, for Alexander's sake. It would help the boy connect culturally to his Latino Catholic roots, he reasoned; but most importantly, it would allow little Alexander to begin his own spiritual search.

Ralph invited me to respond to his column, thinking that I could present a more positive view of church doctrine. I appreciate Ralph's candor and, to a degree, I can relate to his feelings. I, too, grew skeptical of my early religious indoctrination. That questioning initiated a spiritual journey for me that in recent years has been extremely rewarding in terms of building my faith in God.

I feel that because Alexander will one day ask himself why he is here and what is the purpose of his life - as we all do, Ralph's decision to expose him to God and spirituality at an early age is a wise one. Alexander's exposure to religion will initiate his own spiritual journey. It may even serve as a useful and important compass for his life in later years.

I will be the first to admit that childhood religious education can leave much to be desired.

As a young girl reared by a devout Baptist grandmother, I perceived church as either a spectacle or a discipline from God, depending on what was going on in service that Sunday. Most of the Baptist churches my family attended had some charismatic elements. So if the pastor or members of the congregation started shouting out loud during the service or clapping their hands, stomping their feet or dancing around - it was a good Sunday. If the pastor droned on and on and no one seemed to be moved to do anything intriguing - it was a bad Sunday.

Other highlights of Sunday worship were receiving the colorful Bible lesson cards at Sunday School (cool pictures) and seeing how quietly I could unwrap a peppermint candy during the pastor's sermon. I may not have had the most spiritual criteria for evaluating church back then, but hey, I was a kid.

My perception evolved during my teen years. It wasn't just that I was becoming more aware of what I was being taught (and I was) or that the services were becoming more interesting (they were not). It was Mrs. Thompson, head of the youth missionary group. (No relation except that she was my aunt's mother-in-law.) An extremely devout woman, Mrs. Thompson took a personal interest in me and the other children of the church. You could tell that behind those wire-rimmed glasses and stern demeanor she truly cared. And that, for me, made the difference.

During our Wednesday youth missionary meetings, Mrs. Thompson dutifully taught us the religious doctrine of the Baptist denomination. But most importantly she taught us about God, Jesus and the Bible. When she taught about these subjects, her eyes, usually rheumy with age, brightened, and the authoritarian edge of her voice softened. She spoke with emotion and reverence. It was obvious that her religion was more than just a two-dimensional Bible tract or seminary-inspired sermon. Her faith was living and active.

Mrs. Thompson got my attention. Or perhaps, God got my attention through Mrs. Thompson. She inspired me to seek out a faith that is living and active. Ironically, that search led me away from the church of my childhood. I now am a member of a nondenominational Christian congregation that uses the Bible as its only creed. But my love for and faith in God, Jesus and the Bible is stronger than it has ever been in my life. And for the first time in my life, religion has real meaning.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Alexander may grow up questioning his church's doctrine or even rejecting his church's view of God. But he will grow up knowing right from wrong. He will develop a conscience and a moral sense. And he probably will turn out as decent a man as his father.

(Joy Thompson is an editorial writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. You can write to her at 604 Pine Ave., Long Beach, Calif. 90844.)

(c) 1997, Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.).

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