I was convinced my great grandmother went to live on the moon after she died. I was five years old and each night I would wait for the Great Grandmother moon. Sitting patiently on a cold, bony radiator, I watched the sky. If the moon appeared, I would tell her what was happening in my life. No one told me to do this, it came naturally to me. Was my native DNA telling me to honor and talk to ancestors? or was I unwilling to comprehend the loss of unconditional love?

Years later, the nuns taught me to ready my heart each week for God, he would enter it during Mass. The Mass was in Latin, which gave me ample freedom to create my own mythology. I visualized a playhouse in my heart and I 'cleaned it' during Mass of the dirt or 'sins' of the previous week. After communion, I entertained a young Jesus, until he went home when I went home. We played games and talked; it was often my childhood's most joyful times.

Now, as an adult I have new mythologies —each an attempt to recreate a similar joy in my heart. Sadly, my visualizations rarely include a game or chat with a deity. Why? I can think of nothing more healty than a game of Wii Tennis with Jesus or Bowling with Buddha.

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Re-access Inner Child: The Inner Child or the immortal soul is ready and willing to guide us.

ME and JESUS: I was born in the mid-1950's and started Catholic School before the Ecumenical Council or Second Council of the Vatican (1962-1965) changed the Church as we knew it. A Latin Mass suited me, I was able to 'fill in the blanks' to create my own religion. I also loved the incense and rituals of the old ways. It was only when I understood what was said that knew they got it wrong. I hated the crucifix, I hated seeing that kind of suffering and worshipping pain. All through my childhood, our pains were to be embraced and offered up to Jesus. In my heart of hearts I knew Jesus did not want me to embrace this pain. In choir practice a nun saw me kneeling on one knee. I had badly scraped my other knee. Her hand grasped my shoulder and dug ehr fingers into my flesh, she forced me down on that knee and hissed in my ear to offer the pain up to Jesus. Grabbing my hair, she pulled back my head and asked if my pain was any worse that His on the cross! I remember thinking that He was a wooden statue and felt nothing but wisely kept my mouth shut. A few hours later, I got to offer more pain to Jesus when I had to rip my scab off my knee and leave it behind on the kneeler. I always knew that this was wrong, that the nun had it wrong and that the priests had it all wrong.

HUMAN KIND: I have a strong faith in humankind. I believe that we are all much more similar than different. We all want to be good, we all love our children and want to provide shelter and sustinence to our families. I believe that we are born in a state of grace and in the loving aura of a creator. We are born to be happy and grateful for this life and to make the most of it. We are supposed to love each other and make our world and lives better. And we fail this daily.