I had a rather sad conversation with my dear sons friend last night. He is a self-proclaimed Buddhist.  We have several Buddhist friends and we try to respect each other and our beliefs, and if neccessary, just agree to disagree. No problem. But this kid(age 16) is very proud of his so called faith, and wants to make sure everyone knows, and also knows how wrong their own faith is. Gotta respect his zeal. Only one small problem.....he has no idea WHAT he believes and what the basic facts of his faith are.....

I sincerley asked him some very basic questions genuinely wanting to know that answers. "Do you believe in God the Creator and Buddha is a prophet or do you consider Buddha to be god??"  Response, " um, I don't know." Question: Do you have a Holy Book? Response:  "Um I don't know, I don't think so." Question: "Do you attend some sort of service weekly at a church or temple?"  Response:" my family does once a year or so." Question:  "That's good, but do most families attend regularly, are there weekly services?" Response: "Um, I dunno know."

Wow! This young, sweet kid who is so zealous in his faith, has absolutely no idea just what it is he is so zealous about. The fact that he is a Buddhist, doesn't bother me half as much as the fact that he has absolutely no idea what he believes, yet he claims to believe so strongly.

Then it got me to thinking; Do we do any better teaching our own children WHAT we believe, and Who we believe in, and basic facts of that faith? I sure hope so.  I do make a rather conscience effort to instill these things in my children, but after this conversation, I intend to be even more diligent in doing so. Having "faith of a child" is a great thing, they don't neccessarily NEED all the facts to believe, they just believe. That is such a beautiful thing indeed, wouldn't be great if us adults could follow such an example? BUT, especially as my children mature and reach their pre-teen and teen years, I want to be sure they know the whats and whys and basic knowledge of our faith. You never know when they may be questioned on it, either out of genuine curiousity(such as I was with this boy last night) or in hopes of trying to disprove their beliefs. I want to make sure my children are equiped with the Truth and can intelligently and lovingly stand up to any attacks or interogations, or just lovingly explain to someone who is genuinly looking for those answers.

Posted by Kinley

1 Peter 3:15

Kristy

Posted by joyismystrength

I don't get to stop by as much any more. Blogging time has been reduced significantly by my eldest daughter's need for help with her High School work, her needing the computer for many of her subjects, and because I'm struggling to make time for all the important areas of my life. One person + 24 hours = too many leftovers on the "To-Do list. i.e. time with God, school, housework, cooking, exercising, kids' activities. Oh yeah...sleep. Anyway, I stopped by to let you know that your NOT forgotten about. Blessings on your home today.

Posted by appleleaf

Once again, your post has really made me think. I honestly don't know if Christian schools and Sunday Schools and church youth programs are doing what so many parents believe they are doing; that is, teaching young people a solid grounding about their Christian faith. I'm with you, we've really got to take responsibility. Buddhism is an interesting faith. I wish your young Buddhist friend had been able to answer your interesting questions because I'd really like to know too.
By the way, I've chosen you for a "Thinking Blogger" award, based on thought provoking posts like this. Please log onto my blog to read more. It turns out to be a very fun type of tag and I hope you enjoy it.
Blessings,
Paula