An Ash Wednesday Synch
Last night I took my 3-year-old son to an Ash Wednesday service--we go to church every year on that day only. On the way, my son was asking me about where we were going. His first thought was that he wanted to choose the color of the ashes--no gray for him. Then he asked what the ashes meant and I couldn't really remember but I thought maybe it had something to do with the saying "from ashes to ashes, and dust to dust". So I told him that we all die someday and turn into dust. He got a bit upset and said, "but I love myself, I don't want to die". Wow. Then he wanted to know where we go when we die. No simple heaven and hell explanation from me--I told him that it is a mystery. Now here's an unexpected benefit of being involved in religion--it elevates the conversation with your kids a bit. Not that we couldn't have the conversation without religion, but I like that it was so spontaneous. Regardless of the fact that I consider myself a sp