My Household Gods

When I was a kid I attended was marched off to Sunday School regularly where there was a lot of talk about "God" and "Jesus". but I never got them straight; apparently the picture of the bearded man with children on his lap was Jesus but it was never clear to me about the God person. I did ask but the answers were vague  and made no sense.

When I grew up I did some investigating on my own and found other paths, each when I was ready. Along the way I  noticed that different religions had statues of their gods and in many cases they were on the gory side.

Now these are my household gods and I have no idea what they stand for but I  promise you they are not gory.

The one above is obviously Chinese and looks both wise and mischievous and I like that.

This is a Thai god and all I know about most Thai gods is that they wear pointy head gear. Thais are mostly respectful of Buddha and I do have him straight in my mind. In fact, he and Jesus are a couple of my heroes.

Pointy head--another Thai.

One of my sons thought I was an old soul and this was a gift from him, although I don't look or feel as old and jaded as he looks.

This one? Well truthfully, I bought him at Fishermens Wharf in San Francisco and he looks suitably enigmatic to make the team.

He's not supposed to be a god but I find him to be rather mysterious and lovely. I found him in Rome, where I had a lot of amazing spiritual dreams, dreams that I still remember vividly so many years later.

These are my household gods; we all co-exist peaceably, and I finally did figure out the Jesus-God puzzle. From where I stand most religions have the same goal but take wildly different ways to reach them.

May the blessings be.