KidSpirit Youth Voices | Blog | Spirituality & Practice

Posted by KidSpirit Online on December 12, 2018

By Ayla Schultz, for KidSpirit's Speed of Now issue.

I settle down for dinner with my family. Pots of steaming and fragrant dahl, rotis, chicken, and pale brown rice sit at the center of the table.

Nani is sitting across from me, talking to my brother about something that my uncle recently sent on WhatsApp. The smell of zeera, elaichi, and rai seeds hit my nose. Mouths water, plates are overfilled, everyone smiles as the warm food hits their mouths.

Food has always been central to the culture of my family. . . .

Basket on the River

Posted by KidSpirit Online on November 7, 2018

By Zainab Umarfor KidSpirit's Storytelling and Narrative issue.

Almost as if it were part of the story itself, I can recall the day my mother told us the tale of Hazrat Musa like it happened just yesterday, instead of a decade ago.

It was a typical Lahori summer night, soundless except for the droning symphony of mosquitoes. My little brother and I tossed around restlessly in our beds, fanning our flushed faces. A power line near our home had been damaged, plunging our street into darkness, and the wind from the rechargeable fan our father had positioned near our bed made a feeble attempt at cutting through the thick-as-custard air. Hearing our muttered complaints and huffs of exasperation, our mother entered the room. She knew it was impossible for us to sleep in this heat, so she told us to be patient, and began telling us a story which transported us from the humid streets of Lahore to the searing dunes of ancient Egypt, where a child called Musa (Moses) was born.

At the time of Musa’s birth, Egypt was ruled by a terrible and tyrannical Pharaoh . . .

A Matter of Perspective

Posted by KidSpirit Online on October 24, 2018

By Aditya Naik for KidSpirit's Creation and Destruction issue.

Can something be both creative and destructive?

You may never have thought about that question. Your spontaneous answer might be “of course not.” But I believe that anything can be both creative and destructive depending on the situation and how we look at it.

I am an Indian, and so I am blessed to have been born in a country of rich tradition and culture.

Where Does Morality Come From?

Posted by KidSpirit Online on October 10, 2018

By Zach Young for KidSpirit's Ethics and Morality issue.

What are morals and where do they come from?

Is morality like the laws of physics, ironclad dicta from nature? Or is morality like language, where there is no “right answer” but different languages that different groups of people speak?

These are eternal questions with many answers. . . .

Church: A Catalyst for Exploration

Posted by KidSpirit Online on September 27, 2018

By Jack Miles for KidSpirit's Adventurous Spirit issue.

When I was called up to the center altar of my church by the members of “Drums No Guns,” I froze.

Who was I kidding? I often fidget by drumming pencils on desks or chopsticks on tables, but drumming in front of a few hundred people during a Palm Sunday service that’s webcast to potentially hundreds of others seemed more like a nightmare than reality. I had beat the drum during the procession, and maybe improvised a little, but in no way was I qualified to join the group. I tried to casually play it off and back away, but when I turned around to be absorbed by the crowd, I faced a wall of white robes, colored stoles, and beaming faces.

The priests were not going to let me back out of this one. . . .

Why Are We Resilient?

Posted by KidSpirit Online on September 13, 2018

By Vanita Sharma for KidSpirit's Resilience issue.

Landing on my high school’s junior varsity tennis team for the third time in a row was devastating.

After spending hours, even years, vying for a position on varsity while watching my sister rise up through the ranks and observing my peers compete in the official leagues, I was desperate to make the team. I am not usually superstitious, but I used to blow a wish on every eyelash that I found to help me get onto the team.

After getting rejected I wanted to quit. I stopped believing that I was good enough for any team . . .

The Joy of Questioning

Posted by KidSpirit Online on August 29, 2018

By Kavya Shah for KidSpirit's Interfaith Connections issue.

The ability to question is a power that we all have.

Sometimes I find answers to my questions, but sometimes I don’t. When I was a small child, there were times when my parents told me that there are no answers to certain questions. However, I have learned that even after we know they may not have answers, all questions are worthwhile. They can help us to discover more about our religion, our family, and even ourselves. Therefore I am always on a quest to understand the unknown.

Some children might just forget about difficult questions, but I like to explore the depth of everything . . .

Out of the Labyrinth

Posted by KidSpirit Online on August 9, 2018

By Sofia Mesh for KidSpirit's Awesome Moments issue.

My life was a confusing labyrinth. I was always overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed and to reach the top because I had been brainwashed into thinking that would make me happy.

Since I was young, I had been taught I needed to achieve perfect grades, fill my schedule with after-school activities, and study until I was at the point of tears.

Tears meant I was working hard. If I didn't accomplish this, then what would others think of me?

Finding Comfort in Numbers

Posted by KidSpirit Online on July 23, 2018

By Celie Johnson for KidSpirit's Numbers and Symbols issue.

My spirituality revolves around the use of numbers and symbols, a cloud of reasoning and a bit of mysticism.

I believe in numbers and that brings me comfort. It comforts me to count the stars, understand why they exist, and how they came to be. It comforts me to think of adding and subtracting, equations and notations, that make sense of this crazy and complex world. However, I didn’t always feel this way.

I was raised Jewish, but my father is Christian ...

Simplicity Is Already a Masterpiece

Posted by KidSpirit Online on July 9, 2018

By Yani Li for KidSpirit's Simplicity and Complexity issue.

Let our worries wash away
the nuances of complexity
Like stars fallen from heaven’s seam,
swept into the darkness of a sorcerer’s dream

Look past the blurry film placed in front of our eyes ...

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About This Blog

Young people are brimming with vision and prophetic wisdom. This blog features 11- to 17-year-olds in deep and often surprising explorations of spiritual life. Their original writing and artwork was first published in KidSpirit, the sole spiritual magazine by and for global youth. Their words call us to approach eternal questions with wonder. More

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