It has been awhile since I checked out this storytelling thread. I really enjoyed your sharing, Rachel, of how you have worked hard to weave the various parts of your life together. I also grew up in an area where I was in a distinct religious minority in Boston. My dad was a pastor in a Lutheran church, so I had ample ammunition to argue with my friends over the fine points of theology, usually feeling that I had won the argument. There was only one truth about God and the eternal, and I had it. And yet, I think, I hope, we remained friends.
Now in retirement, my attitude toward religion is quite different. My life is blessed with students from around the world with our work at Utah State University with International Friends and students from over 100 different countries. I have long admired Gandhi and his observation that he was a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, and each of the different religions in India. He found a measure of God and truth in each one of them. Martin Luther King, Jr, another hero of mine, quoted Gandhi in this regard and taught that we are all brothers and sisters in one family regardless of religion or color.
Now for the best part. My family has just grown this past week. Our daughter from Syria has just been joined by her nephew who now becomes our great-nephew. He will begin graduate studies in Boston and start a new life in the US. But ultimately he wants to bring peace and connections between the US and Syria so that both can benefit from the gifts of the other. It is a dream worth working for. He is a wonderful addition to my life. And we love to talk religion and politics.