Children And Religion
...explained to him that the phrase “Coming to Jesus”, meant to be part of his church or congregation. I believe that religion, in its traditional sense makes it more difficult for a child to comprehend the spirituality that is behind because it tends to try to channel these feelings into a particular path. A different approach on religion is seen in Frank McCourt’s “First Communion”. His meaning of first communion is far from religious and spiritual. McCourt is more concerned on the material aspects that will follow his first communion than the spiritual significance it represents. Another episode is when he states, “God was good. He melted and I swallowed Him and now at last, I was a member of the True Church, an official sinner”. I can relate to McCourt because I remember when I did my first communion at the age of seven, I literally thought that I had swallowed the body of Christ and that had made me holy. As a child I would ask my mother about the guardian angel since I had a big picture of it; we would say a prayer together before I was put to bed. I had formed an image in my mind of a beautiful tall lady with large wings that would protect me in case of danger. I recall falling of my bike one day, scraping both of my knees and looking around for my guardian angel. I was disappointed when she never came to my assistance. This was the beginning of my religious doubt. It wasn’t after a couple of years that I understood the meaning of spirituality and sy...