I’m indigenous in Canada and both my parents were born in the wilderness and I grew up surrounded by elders like my mother and father. They had all been converted by Christian missionaries but there was always a strange thread of our old beliefs and cultural ideas. I don’t think we were ever fully converted.

I never had a full sense that there was a magical heaven in the afterlife. The kind of belief I grew up with was the general idea that this life is a miracle and that we are fortunate to even exist. The same thought is given to animals, plants and even the land and water and sky as a whole. Everything is just a living miracle and the fact that we are here to see it is unbelievable. It makes you realize that in this communal miracle, you have to respect all life because everything is fleeting and momentary … we may live for years or decades but it is still just a short moment compared to life everywhere.

This way of thinking was reinforced when I started reading about science and modern thinkers. I never went to higher education but I read a lot for myself. I enjoyed reading the philosophy of Carl Sagan who described life as a momentary spark in the cosmos.

I also enjoyed how he suggested that if more people just thought of life in this way, we would probably appreciate each other a lot more because we would know that this is all there is and what we do now is all that matters.

I don’t believe in any world religion. I have my own way of believing in something. I also grew up with many great Irish Canadians who taught me similar ideas. One old friend suggested that if you want to believe in something … just believe in love. Love for yourself, love for those close to you, love for everyone, love for everything.

It’s the closest I’ve come to believing in something and that is just fine for me.