At about the same time I was officially baptized a Christian, my mother met my future dad. Being one of the personal assistants to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for much of the early 70's to the early 90's, my dad had a very different view of God.
My dad's religious beliefs best described as a scramble of eggs. From my experience of knowing him, he's practiced (and I think still practicing) Buddhism, Catholicism (of which he recently converted), Hindu, Christian, and is studying Islam. All in all, he's learned a little of each of these religions and values them equally as such.
My experience of religion outside of Christianity might stem from my 7th grade in middle school. I recently earned a D+ in Algebra, a grade that I thought I would never have to see. My dad just got diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and wasn't expected to live much longer. Most of my friends were already asking people out to prom, and I felt resolved that I was never going to go. A couple weeks later at the house of my dad's friend, I ran across a statue of the Indian diety Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles. Having only experienced Ganesha's alleged magic through my dad's stories, I spent about ten minutes complaining about my griefs to what I believed was just a funky statue of a buddha with an elephant head. Two days later, I received from another one of my fathers friends of a Ganesha statuette. It seems silly that I took that statuette as a response to my prayers, but it seemed more of a coincidence. The next four years seemed like a miracle. I earned myself a C in algebra, my dad got himself heart surgery, and I temporarily later lost interest in girls in middle school.
Part 3 will concern my dilemma on who I can identify myself with. Stay tuned, and please don't fall asleep when reading this, or comment when you're drunk from a party.
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