During my childhood, I learned a lot about spirituality from my father.
Not because he was religious. He hardly ever quoted scripture, and our family prayers were nominally Episcopalian, i.e, barely prayers.
No, he wasn’t religious, but I learned about spirituality from him because of the way that he interacted with his environment.
My father was an attorney for many years. Then in the early 80s he decided he wanted to be a farmer.
So he moved his family to Kansas and bought a sheep farm. That’s where I grew up.
Being a farmer is not at all romantic. It is hard work. There are plenty of things about it that are ignominious, even degrading. The money is terrible, you’re at the mercy of the elements, and a big part of your job is literally shoveling shit.
When I was a kid, I saw my dad struggling with all those aspects of being a farmer.
… But I also saw that he loved it. He loved being outside. He loved thinking deeply about how to be a good steward. He loved the land. He loved the animals. He loved his neighbors.
He loved these things with his whole being—his heart and mind and spirit.
That’s what I mean when I say I learned a lot about spirituality from my dad. It wasn’t about religion. It was about relationships—
with the animals,
with the land,
with the neighbors,
with himself, and
with whatever big animating energy was present in all those things.
I’m using past tense because obviously that’s when I was learning these childhood lessons. But Dad is still working a farm, still wrestling with it, and still loving it at 81 years old.
And you know, now that I think about it, I’m still learning this from him. The last time I was with him in person, before the pandemic, I showed him an abandoned eggshell I found in the yard.
“Look at that pale, pale blue!” I said. “Do you think it’s a robin’s egg?”
“Could be.”
“My God, it’s so beautiful,” I said.
He looked up at me.
“That’s my favorite prayer,” he said.
Do you need help connecting with your spirit? I’m not religious but that’s kinda my jam. Book a coaching call with me here.