Families turn more toward spirituality

December 18, 1995
Web posted at: 8:30 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Pat Etheridge

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- For the DelGaudio family, December is a magical time filled with special calendars, candle-lit wreaths and songs of celebration. But while the velvet party dresses and festive decorations come out just once a year, talk of God and spirituality is an everyday activity for the family.

"We've always talked about God and we've always prayed at night together," Laura DelGaudio said. Her husband John added that they are "trying to get (the children) to realize that God is in everything." (85K AIFF sound or 85K WAV sound)

The DelGaudios are not alone. A new study indicates that a growing number of U.S. families, possessing various beliefs, are incorporating spirituality into their daily lives.

According to a Gallup poll published in the December/January issue of Parenting Magazine, 95 percent of parents with children under age 12 say they believe in God; 40 percent say religion has become more important since having children; and 64 percent say grace at meals and bedtime with their children.

Evidence of the country's spiritual trend can be seen at The Temple, a Reform Jewish synagogue in Atlanta, where some 500 children turn out every Sunday to learn about their creator -- and to do some creating of their own through arts and crafts work in a Bible study class.

"They're getting a sense of what their cultural heritage is and basically right from wrong,"

-- Susan Amsler

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In addition to instilling the children with a sense of morality, a spiritual life provides them with a few more puzzles to ponder.

"There are two questions I have that I don't think anyone can answer," said one child, Arielle. "The first one is who made God? And the second one is that everyone says that gods live forever. Then when was he first made?"

Another child, Adrienne, has a simpler question: "How does God look like?"

A sense of joyous wonder about the world is just one thing mother and Episcopalian priest Elizabeth Rechter sees enhanced in children who lead a spiritual life.

"In children, we can see the face of God, because it's uninhibited joy," Rechter said.

But spiritual experiences are not limited to the confines of churches and synagogues. Programs such as one at Atlanta's Morningside Day Out Daycare Center strive to provide children with spiritual exposure without emphasizing any one organized religion.

At Morningside, children talk about Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah, even the Chinese new year.

"We've been talking about celebrating all of these," said Susan Frost, a teacher at the center. "There are themes like togetherness and family."

That idea of togetherness, Laura DelGaudio said, is what spirituality is all about.

"It gives you an extended family," she said. "It makes you feel part of a community." (77K AIFF sound or 77K WAV sound)

Ultimately, parents and teachers agree, the goal of the growing wave of spirituality is fairly universal, and certainly timeless: to better prepare children for the world that lies beyond the doors of church, synagogue and home.

Families turn more toward spirituality

"They're getting a sense of what their cultural heritage is and basically right from wrong,"

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