Easter Thoughts
Easter is a time of year associated with new beginnings, new life, fecundity and with family. Perhaps you have just had a gathering with your family over the Easter period and felt the decision weighing down even more heavily than usual. (for more thoughts on the holidays and the challenges they can bring, go to my blog post on the challenges of Christmas holidays Christmas Time and Not Having Children ) Easter can be a hard time for those who are trying to make the decision whether to have children or not. This can be doubly true for those who are attending church or who are regular church attenders.
If you have a faith, you may find that some religious leaders in your faith encourage you have children as a expression of the values of your faith. (see a blog I wrote last year on comments the Pope's view on being childfree. I've worked with clients who have found it difficult when have been advised by ministers or pastors to have children as an integral part of their religion even when they aren't sure they want children. When coaching someone in this situation who feels conflicted about the advice or messages they are receiving from their minster/pastor, I ask this question
'What do you hear when it's just you and God? When you are alone, perhaps praying, to God?'
And usually the answer is very different from the message the person has been hearing from their minister or leader of their religion.
If we have a faith, we know that we can listen to and trust our own relationship with our faith and with our God. Religious leaders can be wise and thoughtful but they are humans and like all humans are informed by society views and norms on having children.
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