Uniformity, Conformity--No Thanks!

Sometimes it feels as though I am being squeezed into a mold. A mold that doesn't fit, a mold that doesn't bend and a mold that doesn't want to vary in its expression.

To fit into a mold says to me that I have to think like everyone else, look like everyone else and do as everyone else does. If I don't, it is shameful and rebelious.

What is wrong with being a rebel anyway? A rebel isn't a troublemaker or bad or evil. A rebel is someone who wants to think and do for themselves. Someone who wants to make their own rules and chart their own path. In history it is the rebels who are celebrated and remembered today, simply because they didn't conform.

I don't want to be told what to believe or how to do things right. I want to figure it out on my own. I want to think for myself. It is time to start thinking about and understanding why we do what we do. Why we believe what we belive. It is time to start questioning the systems, structures and rules. Discover the roots, keeping the important and not worrying about the rest.

I had a conversation with my 6 year old daughter the other day who informed me that, "Sunday school is boring". I immediately got my back up , although she couldn't tell. It was kind of a slight against me because I do what I can to make it 'not boring'. Not only that but the whole concept has been ingrained in me without me ever questioning the value of it for myself. It was just something we did.

I went on to tell her that it was a place and opportunity to learn about Jesus and I am sorry she finds it boring. Wrong, systematic answer.

In depth beyond her years she replies, "Well mom, I didn't say Jesus was boring, I said Sunday School was boring and I can know Jesus without Sunday School."

Snap!

She is so right.

What a rebel.

That's my girl.