Over the next few weeks I will be contemplating the way in which our experiences of daily life are integrated with the way we develop our spiritual lives (both personally and communally) Please join me on this journey! I would love to have a lot of discussion with others about the integration of their spiritual lives and their day to day lives. Are they decidedly different, or are they fully integrated, or do they fall somewhere in between? Tell me what you think? And let's go deep--and talk about personal experiences here.

Holistic Journeys: Step 1 - Where are you from?

I've come to realize that my immediately family has had a HUGE impact on who I have become as a Christian. So how does a woman start in a family that has a baptist background, but did not go to church regularly, to a monastic-ly leaning pastor in the United Church of Christ? Simple. I blame the bagpipes.

You see, my family has Celtic origins. The paternal side is mostly Scottish, with some dribbles of Anglo-Saxon and Norman thrown in. The Maternal side is Irish - all Irish, all the time. While I was growing up, our mecca, the place where we were most spiritually and personally connected with each other, was the Scottish Games. Any Scottish Games really. The bagpipes, the drumming, the dancing, the meat pies - the sites and smells of the Games called to my soul!

So what does this have to do with the developing of my Christian faith? Well, my love of my heritage led to a deeper interest in the Celtic culture that endured through my growing years. As I began developing my Christian faith, the interest in Celtic culture did not end. I have voraciously read through early Celtic texts, studied the practices and words of both pre-Christian and Christian celts. I found in those words a longing in my soul. I found my soul reaching out for home, for that place that my family taught me to love and cherish as a part of who I am. I found a way to integrate and appreciate my family life in the Christian heritage of "my people."

"My people" - the ancient Celts who lived a Christianity tied to the land, and tied to the practice of every day faith. "My people" - including who appreciated and celebrated the hardships and joys of living in community in barren and beautiful lands. "My people" - who taught me the deep roots of family and neighbor and how to serve others in faith. "My people" - who (as collected in the Carmina Gaedelica) prayed for fires to burn, for crops to grow, for the Trinity to make itself known in even the smallest moments of their lives - called to me through the years, and helped me to appreciate who I was, and who I am. For these things, "my people" have blessed me.

Who are your people from the past? Do you see them in your life? How have they helped you become who you are today? Do they call to you even now?