Dot Girl

      “Mommy and I saw a girl in the store with a dot on her forehead. Mommy said that girl doesn’t believe in God or know God.”  Elizabeth’s eyes were wide with concern.

     It was the very first day at my brand new preschool assistant teaching job. I stood there stunned, wondering what to say to this earnest 4-year-old person of faith.

     “Uhm…mmm...How does Mommy know that?  Did she ask the girl?” My mind was racing. Should I seize this teachable moment? Dare I step near the boundary, and if so, where was it?

     Little Elizabeth ran off to play with her new friends, and another task took my attention. But this brief conversation left me with food for thought.

     Granted, we were in a church-based preschool. And I’m sure her mother has loving intentions. But in all her striving to save the soul of every stranger who crosses her path, she has planted the seeds of intolerance and prejudice in her little saint.

     Scenarios ran through my head. Does the mother routinely ask those with dots whether they believed in God as presented in evangelical Christianity?        

     Maybe Elizabeth had asked her mother why the other girl sported a dot. She did prove to be quite an intelligent, inquisitive young soul in my class.       Whatever the case, it appeared that the mother assumed that wearing a dot, or whatever it represented, was incompatible with orthodox Christian faith.

     I went home and Googled “forehead dot”.  According to Wikipedia, the dot, or bindi, can mean any one of many things:

•        It represents the “third eye” of spiritual sight, which sees things the physical eyes cannot see

•        It aids the wearer in honoring one's intellect, so that their thoughts, speech, actions, habits and ultimately their character become pure

•        In meditation, the spot between the eyebrows is where one focuses one’s sight, so that it strengthens concentration

•        It is believed to protect against evil spirits or bad luck

•        It is merely (and increasingly today) a cosmetic mark used to enhance beauty; a style statement

•        It helps the wearer to focus inward toward God. As such, the bindi signifies piety as well as serving as a constant reminder to keep God in the front of a believer's thoughts.

     It would appear that the bindi can signify almost as many things as there are people who wear it. One thing that it does not signify, however, at least in my readings, is atheism.

     And those who make a habit of judging the eternal destiny of everyone they meet, and teach their children to do so, feed the stereotype of the intolerant Christian, and turn many off to Christianity even before they’ve heard any of the actual teachings of Jesus.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”  Matthew 7:1