The Spirituality of Parenting

One of the consistently good podcasts I listen to is Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, a public radio conversation about religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas.  The broadcast this week features a timely episode on the spirituality of parenting. 

"Raising children is a great spiritual challenge that many of us live with day to day yet we so rarely call it that," says Tippett. Her guest on this episode is Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, a rabbi and a mother and grandmother. She's the author of books that help adults and children think religiously and ethically together. She is deeply rooted in Judaism, but her books have been endorsed by leaders of many traditions. She's also edited an anthology of perspectives on parenting from across the world's religions. Sandy Sasso and her husband, Dennis, were the first rabbinical couple in history to jointly lead a congregation, Beth-El Zedeck, in Indianapolis.

Rabbi Sasso admits she and her husband were beginners, too, when it came to raising their own children and teaching children in a congregation. She came to think of young children as little theologians. She discovered that they had big, deep questions.  How are parents to nourish the souls of these little ones? Rabbi Sandy Sasso offers practical wisdom on the spirituality of parenting in our time:

"I think society does a very good job in teaching us how to be consumers and a very good job in teaching us how to be competitors.  The question I think parents are struggling to answers is, how do we not just teach our children's minds but how do we teach their souls? We want our children to be gracious and grateful, to have courage in difficult times.  We want them to have a sense of joy and purpose. That's what it means to nurture their spiritual lives."

Listen to the episode here and see a good list of recommended reading here.

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