Blogust & Everything After

I chatted with a classmate today over coffee and we discussed the influence of our parents in our lives. He was very distant from his parents, he moved out young and explored his own agenda. One of the main reasons that he broke away was that his parents had imposing extreme religious beliefs that he didn't adhere to. He, currently, doesn't view religion(Christianity) as bad but he is still mulling through things ten years later. He knows that there is an unknown out there but he's not sure what form that takes in life and in his life but he's not making any attempt to incorporate it in his life. He still fears religious structure and getting involved. I had a different upbringing in that my mom allowed me to work through my faith issues and to explore different things. She, of course, encourged certain definite truths but in no way imposed her structure on me. I was active in the Free Methodist church but attended Catholic school. So I sort of saw the best and worst of both worlds. I've been able to develop a unique Christianity that is open to different styles of worship and different appraoches (modern and traditional). I've also recently seen eastern religion in action and I've been able to wrestle with that. Although I don't share their beliefs I do appreciate some of their worship styles. I guess the root of what I'm saying is that I'm very appreciative of the open upbringing I was given and the chance I had to figure faith out for myself. I meet so many people that were soured early on but I wasn't and that has made all the difference.