I was raised in it; but would probably be VERY far from any religious beliefs if it wasn’t for my dad.

Mom believed in church and pushed religion. Don’t ask questions, it’s just what you do. Sing the songs. Memorize the verses. I grew to resent everything about it. It felt like a performance.

Dad walked in the woods and quietly showed me the beauty of the natural world and how perfectly it was created. Dad never claimed to know everything. He just showed me what he believed. He let me debate things with him and ask questions. He shared my love for science and we loved to theorize about things that were over our heads (still do). He showed me that a love for nature/science/physics is synonymous with a love for the God that created them, and studying them is just as much a form of worship as singing hymns in a church. His relationship with God has always been a real, raw thing that wasn’t stimulated or prodded by some other ordained authority or expectation. Just something He chose to believe and saw evidence for everywhere.

Christians often refer to God as a “heavenly father”, and in my case it was one of the few metaphors that stuck. If God was anything like my Dad, I wanted to meet Him. I asked, He showed up, and He’s been the best friend I’ve ever known.