Abstract Words We Take Granted

This morning at breakfast, my dad (a faithful Protestant church-goer for 85 years) asked,"what's the difference between grace and mercy? Are they the same? Both my parents have been active in their churches for their entire lives. So we looked up the meanings in my sister's AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Noah Webster 1828.

When we read "mercy" - "tenderness" I got thinking about this blog and the early posts about giving kids "concrete" understanding of some of the words we take for granted, words that we need to have first hand experience with if we're to understand the scriptures (sheep, grape vines, stars...). Such nouns are multiple-sensory concrete words - multi-sensory associations if we've interacted with the real thing.

What about words like "grace" and "mercy"? Where in life, outside of church, will a child ever hear or use those words? How do we give them concrete meaning and association? Where are the stories of scripture that give them meaning? (Moses-humility, David-man after God's heart). Where are the pictures of what those "religious" words mean?

First, look up the definition. Read the stories of scripture that use those words. Then watch for them in real life! Did you ever see a child express mercy to another child? A kitten? A parent? Did you ever see "grace"? What other words do we rarely see in the "real" world?

Dogs aren't kids, kids aren't dogs but we teach a dog what a word means by attaching the word to the doing of the word. When you see it, name it! It's not about Suzie or Johnny doing this wonderful deed. Did you see grace when Will forgave Chloe for hitting him and invited her to his birthday party? Did you see mercy when Jamie brought us the first aid kit and held Ty's hand while we doctored his cut?

Pick one of those essential-to-the-faith-because-it-is-the-nature-of-God words and go looking for it. When you see it, name it and show it to a child.

I've also recently re-read Vickie Hearne's book Adam's Task. She was a writer, philosopher, horse & dog trainer. The first time I read her book I found it the most frustrating book ever. All the things I wanted her to keep talking about, she didn't. On the second read I caught the part where she said she did it intentionally.

So God created a world, then he created man and gave him dominion over what he created along with the privilege of naming. Not just the authority but the privilege.

What does it mean when you give something un-named, a name?

Somebody was looking for a rebus for Psalm 139.

Do you know how to create a rebus?

Pick a story (in this case, from scripture) that uses a few nouns over and over- preferably nouns that can be substituted with a simple drawing or clip art image. If you simplify the language for early readers (assuming the story lends itself to that without sacrificing the Word), it's fun or at least it's something different.

If you're telling the story, use the pictures as story cards. Hold up a sheep picture for "sheep" but don't say the word. Hold up the picture and let the kids say the word.

Use your imagination and have some fun with it.

Toddlers & movement

Thought about you guys while I was sitting in a waiting room last night watching toddlers with their relatively short attention spans, leaning to use language and social skills (talking to a friendly stranger in long sentences but I couldn't understand the little guy - something about a truck out the window), moving moving moving. Walking, running, climbing.

Which says incorporate as much gross motor into your lessons as you can. Ok. An example? Like walking around Jericho 7 times.  Save all your churches Amazon book boxes and tape them closed which will give you big cheap building  blocks. Build a wall with the kids and tell the Jericho story or sing a song and march around the wall and then make it fall down. I bet you can do that at least 5 times and keep their attention.  Abraham walking, taking a long trip. What will they bring? Put it in a bag. Walk around the room a couple of times. "Oh, I'm so hot!" "I'm tired. Are you tired?" Where will they sleep? Make a tent. Go to sleep. Wake up. Fill the bag. Pick up the tent. More walking. That kind of thing.

Look at this week's Bible story and see if you can tell the story with movement. Lots of movement. Simple movement. Walk. Run, March. Stretch, Make yourself big. Make yourself little.  Fast/Slow, Tip toe,  Stop/Freeze. (You might have to practice that one.) Show them. Do it with them. Make it fun. Use movement in your story telling.

I'm not saying they will intellectually remember and be able to regurgitate what you're teaching them but they will remember the activity and they will remember the fun and they will associate it with church and God and maybe someday it will be another small building block as they grow faith.

Oh...remember...Toddlers aren't the only age group that like to move!

Toddlers Again...

I need to seriously revise something in this post. In case anyone misunderstood, it wasn't my intention to reference the devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness following Jesus' baptism as a story about baptism for toddlers. My intention was to reference the part about the Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove. Even that may be realistically out of the reach of toddlers. Watching a baptism in church. That's concrete. Water is concrete. Being in the water, going under and coming back up is concrete. The Holy Spirit healing you when you're sick is concrete. You could tell the story using a paper dove with wings that flap or tell a simplified version of the baptism story with puppets or dolls. You might even be able to come up with a finger play if there isn't one already. Remember that each story or church activity is an opportunity to introduce new vocabulary (words) to toddlers & preschoolers especially if you have older toddlers who can talk: Jesus, water, baptism, dove. The Holy Spirit isn't neccessarily concrete to toddlers & preschoolers. The devil isn't concrete. Which brings us to why I even went back to that post.

Someone searched "explaining devil to toddlers". The works of God are concrete. The works of the Holy Spirit (healing) is concrete but I don't know that toddlers make that association. The dove is a concrete God- given symbol for the Holy Spirit. Do you see a God-given concrete symbol for the devil? The serpent? Good angels, bad angels, maybe but I still think even that may be confusing or completely off the radar for a toddler.

I would rather spend the first 6 years of a child's life teaching them to be responsible and accountable for their own actions and about making choices, making good choices. "Keeping the commandments," if you will.

Love God. What do we do that says we love God? What does that look like to a toddler or preschooler?
Love your neighbor as yourself. What do we do to love our neighbor as ourself. What does that look like to a toddler or preschooler? Go through all 10 commandments. Make them toddler/preschool simple and ask yourself what does doing this right look like to a toddler or preschooler?

Have no other gods before Me.

Don't make an image or bow down and worship anything in heaven, on earth, or in the waters below.

Don't misuse God's name.

Remember the Sabbath & keep it holy. Six days we work. On the 7th day we rest from our work.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." (My kids used to hear that a lot for the promise attached.)

Don't murder.

Don't take someone else's husband or wife.

Don't take anything that isn't yours.

Don't lie about someone.

Don't want something that belongs to your neighbor, (to your friend).

Those are the 10 rules God gave his people. Jesus summed them up into two.  Take responsibility for your actions.

Search the scriptures for references to the devil. Look for the stories attached. Who were those stories for? Is there a God-given biblical picture or image attached?  Did it strike fear into the hearts of men? Children?

My mother-in-law was an art teacher. She loved kids. She was also very involved in her Episcopal church. She'd grown up Russian orthodox so she was familiar with iconography. Much of her artwork for her church was simple, clear, clean line & color. When she died we found ourselves with a library of art books, among them a book of art depicting the life of Christ. Another was a book full of artistic and cultural renditions of the devil. I'm only bringing this up because children need concrete association and we often draw on visual images but they aren't all biblical. So before you go scaring little children needlessly, go back to scripture. Scripture talks about a healthy fear of the Lord. It also talks about cowardice not getting us into the kingdom of heaven.

Someday, if I understand scripture correctly, we will all face our Maker and give account. For Christ's sake and for the sake of the children in your care, prayrefully ponder and search the scriptures before you conjure up scary images that will be hard for kids to put aside when they grow up and into greater understanding. Consider what's age appropriate. Consider those words and understanding that are concrete for the very young. What's in the scriptures for them? Look before you leap. Go search the scriptures like the Bereans and "see if these things be so."

Christmas is a wonderful time to pull very young children into the scriptures. A mom & dad, a Baby, animals, angels, kings, a donkey, camels, sheep, shepherds, stars, songs, treasure, smells, things to touch...keep going!

The Kingdom of God & Toddlers

"What is in God's Kingdom stories for toddlers?" - a google search that brought someone here.

How often does Jesus say, "The kingdom of God is like..."? Whether you are old or whether you are young, this question and it's answer requires first hand concrete experience which take us back the the very early days of this blog and talking about "concrete," hands-on, 5 senses type life experiences for children.

Look at all the agricultural images in the gospel. Kids were around when parents or servants planted and weeded and harvested. Goats, sheep, donkeys were a common even in urban environments. Kids were probably learning to help around the house (or tent) at a very early age. Kids were there watching & tasting & smelling bread dough and the making of bread. Moms or servants made bread EVERY day but the Sabbath. These experiences and the foundations for the understanding of Jesus' parables didn't take place for only one hour on the Sabbath. These experiences were foundational daily experiences. Even if parents didn't talk about these things (and parents were commanded to talk about God's word coming and going and lying down every day) kids were still experiencing these things and these experience were points of reference and association as their understanding and communication skills matured.

Here are some places where you will hear, "The kingdom of God is like..."

Matthew 13

Mark 4

Luke 13

Luke 19

John 3

If you must think in terms of classroom activities for toddlers , think in terms of growing their experiences & and perhaps their vocabulary.

The Pearl Hidden in the Field - Hide one item for each child to find. "When you find it, sit down and wait."

The Fish Net full of fish - Gather a bunch of good & bad "fish," grapes, or something else and throw the bad away. It doesn't have to be fish.

Matt 16: Keys. What do keys do?

John 3 - Babies being born. As important as spaying & neutering is to keep pet population down because there aren't enough homes, animals giving birth does gives children real life experience with birthing and mothering. (I volunteer at a humane society. so you never heard that from me.) But visit a responsible breeder raising working animals or a farmer or foster a pregnant momma cat or dog for a shelter.

The Wedding Banquet-taking your place at God's banquet table with lots of people, different kinds of people. When you have a big gathering & special food, let the little ones eat at the table with you. Weddings are a wonderful time for that. Weddings are all about family but kids aren't invited to weddings anymore. I understand why but I have a hard time with that.

When Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God He often healed those who needed healing... play doctor with band aids & slings & making hurts better.

The camel through the eye of the needle - being too big to go through a small space. Trying to carry lots of stuff through a small space...playing with an obstacle course that specializes in squeezing through small spaces. Give each of the kids a bag or a stuffed animal or something that won't fit through the space and let them problem solve. That might be a little counter productive but they'll have fun.

Being stuck in the dark with a lamp that runs out of oil or a flashlight without batteries.

Greatest & Least? Treating children like the greatest in the kingdom of God...

You get the idea. At this age, I think it's more about the experiences and simple naming words than it is about concepts and understanding...

This is The Quiet Book. Such an interesting book idea.

Here's a related idea.

Take a very short passage from scripture that includes "quiet" or "be still."

Ask your kids (any child old enough to be familiar with the word & fairly articulate), "What is 'quiet'?" or "What is 'be still'?" Then as a teacher or parent, think about how that understanding affects how the child understands the passage and how that affects how that child understands or knows God.

so much for "good bye"

My sister sends me Charles Swindoll's Insight for Today. The Insight (July 17, 2010) this particular quote comes from is about helping. Here is the quote I like :

"I wholeheartedly agree with Philip Yancey, a man who models his own advice: 'C. S. Lewis once likened his role as a Christian writer to an adjective humbly striving to point others to the Noun of truth. For people to believe that Noun, we Christian writers must improve our adjectives.'"

writer or not .....what if each of our lives is an adjective pointing to the One Living Noun of Truth . . . I live with some people who are very very sensitive to the nuances of language. Lord help us improve our adjectives...

Wordless revisited

You know, you can use any picture, group of pictures, or book with pictures that show action to let a child tell the story. You just do what you do without words - without prompts. You can use pictures to show first, middle, last. You can do history chronology w/pictures. Which came first the story picture of Adam, David, or Jesus? Turn on a video with no sound. Flip through a story in utter silence and, at the end, ask your small people "what did you like?" "What didn't you like?" You can ask who or what a wordless story is about. Where? When? Why? But you don't have to. Have some fun.

A story has a beginning, middle, end. A story has action. A story has a main character. Sometimes it has time, place, why, what, so what...

Think about a story without words. Children see wordless stories everyday - meaning the course of someone's actions where the words aren't necessarily directed at them.

See how many different things you can teach without words. See if you can do a whole class without words...

Wordless

This is a very neat concept if you haven't already played with this: wordless books, wordless stories, wordless pictures. You and one child will obviously get something different from this experience that you will in a whole classroom of children. I'm not saying one is better, one is worse. They're just different.

The Boyds Mills Press Spring 2010 Cataloge (pg 14) says, "Wordless picture books invite you to switch roles. You be the listener — let your child be the reader."

You can do that with Bible Stories, too. You may or may not be comfortable doing that with sacred story but if the child has already heard the story you get to hear his/her version. If not, you get to see how much children get from scripture and how close scripture is to the text. And all of that is didactic. You get to enjoy how young children process what they see.

There are lots of wordless books and pictures and stories out there and in a sense, "a wordless" Outside to read and listen to as well.

activites for the story

Regressing a little...activities, crafts for the story about John the Baptist for toddlers or young preschool. No matches. That's a joke. We burned incense, remember?

A quiet/no talking game.

A very simple angel craft. Our stereotypical visuals of angels aren't neccessarily true to scripture. You'll have to think about that and play with that a little but "angel" is a word they will hear alot during the Christmas season - a concrete vocabulary word, if you will providing you have a picture you're comfortable with.

In Bible times did they light the incense with a candle? Candle - another concrete vocab word for toddlers.

Someone who's going to have a baby.

I would probably go with some kind of simple angel to take home and or a quiet "I can't talk" game.

Angels will show up often in scripture - angels bringing messages from God. You could also play a message sending game. Invite a grown up for each child. Have short simple messages written on small pieces of paper for the kids to bring to their grown ups - a message like "Jesus loves you!" or "Jesus was a baby." If you dress them (the kids) up like angels you've got it made. Angels will be bringing other messages this season.

The whole side of concrete vocabulary with toddlers - what are the new Christmas words they will be hearing and seeing? Focus on those in your stories and with your activities.

Tools for change

Every time I read a book like this the overwhelming question is, "What do I do with this? How do I need to change? Now what?"

What do we do with a book like this? Do we put it on the shelf and dust it off 5-10 years from now and say, "That was a great book!" or can we use it as an agent for change to better align ourselves with what the scriptures say and what God requires of us? How can we use this to better reflect the God we serve?

The only way books like this will change us is for people, particularly groups of people working with children, to examine our own thoughts and attitudes in light of the thoughts and ideas we find in the scriptures. Hopefully, we change how we think and ultimately how we act to better reflect Godly, Christ-like, scriptural attitudes, and understanding. Books like this deserve groups of parents, seminar students, ministry professionals, and caring community members taking 18 chapters worth of time to read, ponder, and talk about the thoughts, ideas, and implications that these authors share. Especially if you have a thinking, reading community. Some of it is dense reading but most of it is pretty straightforward. Hey! Jenny leaves to go back to school today and I've finished the book!

One person is one person. One person is only the beginning. It takes wise leadership and it takes one community after another to change church society and culture and ultimately the larger community. Social gospel, social change? Maybe, but if it better reflects the nature of God and as a result more people turn to Him, isn't that a good thing? Which comes first, individuals changing or changes in administration/leadership? We serve a God who requires us to do, not just know - as individuals and as organizations. Whether or not we know and what we know is reflected in the choices we make and in our actions.

I think that when we see our attitudes and actions in conflict with the scriptures either as individuals or as an institution and we try to express or explain the things we need to change to someone else, one of the biggest challenges is not just convincing others but using language that cuts through the understandings and perceptions that put our listeners on the defensive, language that cuts through all the understandings that keep them from hearing.

I can read through this book (or the scriptures) and say, why is this so different from what I already know or what I'm already doing? Or I can read through this and see very distinct differences. Maybe some of it is timing and the work of the Holy Spirit but in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 Paul talks about words. This whole post-modern generation (maybe every generation) struggles with definitions - language- to show differences, neccessary changes in our cultural thinking to hopefully better reflect the God we serve. At the same time we use care with our language when we want to focus, not on the differences, but on the faith we share.

Solomon tells us there is nothing new under the sun so maybe it's not trying to unveil something new but to keep returning to something very very old and helping people see and hear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through His Word.

May Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be glorified generation after generation and give us grace and wisdom to hear His Word and do His will.

Toddler/Preschool and Bible stories

Toddler/Preschool Bible Stories:

1) I don't think we can overestimate the value of telling a story over and over, even simple stories with pictures or sounds or actions or all of the above. Little people LOVE to hear their favorite stories over and over from the time they're old enough to sit in your lap and look at a board book. As grown-ups we sometimes get tired of reading the same stories over and over but what an opportunity to nurture a love for scripture when the story a child wants to hear over and over is a Bible story!

Toddlers and preschoolers may not come away with deep cognitive understanding but they will remember the emotional experience of being held, being loved, having fun and sharing time with someone who loves them - someone who shares their love of stories. Before long, they will even remember the story. It has great potential to be a positive love-filled association to God and faith.

The child who won't sit still on your lap? Act it out. Pretend. Use stuffed animals or objects instead of pictures to tell the story. Use lots of sounds, not just words and narrative. Get excited, loud, quiet. Tell parts of the story fast and parts of the story slow to build to the important part. Use a puppet on your hand. Use a puppet who doesn't know the story so the child has an active role to play. When you're all done, sit and let the child tell you the story or let each child take a turn adding the next part.

2) Think simple. Take a minute and look at the "concrete" of the story - nouns (people, place, thing), verbs (action words), basic feelings: happy, sad, angry, surprised. Are all the words in the story words that a child can identify, imitate, or show you? Does every word you're using have meaning to the children who are listening to the story? Is it something they've experienced? Think about the simplist form of the story - true to the text. You don't have to totally dumb it down but exploring the words beforehand may give you ideas for ways to enrich the story.

3) How do we give the words in the story meaning? Consider something like a touch table or a word blanket - things to see, hear, smell, taste, touch, identify that represent the words in the story - pictures or objects, sounds, foods. Identify basic people words, (age, gender) identify relationship, (family, friend words) identify job words and associate them with similar people in the lives of your listeners. Identify the basic "thing" words in the story and make sure kids have opportunity to see, hear, touch, taste, smell those things.

Identify elements that make the place of the story unique. If you're talking about a desert turn up the heat. Bring in some sand, some big photo quality pictures or examples of deserts, desert plants, desert animals. No water - no drinks until the very end. Think simple.

What about a mountain? A high place to stand, a miniature world. Cold. Snow. Ice cubes? You get the idea. Maybe, you will say, these things will distract very young children from the story - maybe. But if the story is just meaningless words you may not be internally accomplishing what you think you're accomplishing with your quiet well-behaved listeners.

4) Basic feelings - happy, sad, surprised, mad. Jesus friends were sad when they put him in the tomb. They were surprised when he was gone. Maybe they were angry. They were happy when he was alive. "Someone took Him! Oh, there He is!"

5) Don't forget that the youngest of children will still believe everything you tell them. They still believe all that's true about the stories of scripture in a way that most of us grown-ups don't - even if we believe. We say we believe but I bet you don't believe the same way you did when you were a little child. Do you think God was unintentional when He made us that way? Should we take that away from them and throw all the hard realities of life at them when they're still believing all the good stuff? Faith in it's simplist form is believing what God tells us. The last thing we want to do is clutter a child's heart, mind, and spirit with all the things that challenge or confuse this simple faith. The faith of a little child isn't wrong - just new, clean, uncluttered, unused. Once we pass that stage in life most of us don't get to go back so enjoy it and make the most of it to grow faith.

As you give the words meaning, you give the story meaning. Associations between our lives and the stories of scripture can start at any age and take many forms but think simple. I'm talking about a couple of sensory experiences to give meaning to story words. You're looking to create experiences that give the words in the story meaning - sensory, experiential, emotional meaning at the most basic level without didactic moralizing, explanations, or interpretations. (You could even use simple scripture 2-5 word phrases running through a little child's mind.) Children often use real things when they play and imagine and process their world. That's what you're doing - giving them real things to play, imagine, process their faith in God.

As adults we take our grown-up understanding for granted. We are so intent on teaching concepts and understanding, explaining, interpreting, analysing that sometimes we miss the simple, concrete experiences that are essential to giving meaning to young children. I'm not sure that anyone but God Himself truly understands how child-like faith, imagination, and what is real and true all work together to help us draw near to the Living God in Christ Jesus. I wonder if sharing the simple and keeping it simple doesn't in fact give Father, Son, and Holy Spirit more room to work to make His stories, and ultimately His presence, real.

Pondering Missional #4: The age-old wheel

People may think we're reinventing the wheel. Sometimes you have to do that to be able to see it differently or to make the little adjustments that really matter to help the wheel work better.

Some people think it already works. Some people think it doesn't. Works for what you want it to do, but not what I want it to do. Maybe it doesn't work for what God wants it to do. Maybe it used to work, but not anymore.

And what do you want? Just something that looks different? Something that works different? Something that works more efficiently? Something that will give you a different result? Something that's easier to use or takes less time? A beautiful wheel? A wheel that can work with other wheels? A wheel made out of a different material - because it breaks so easily or because it needs to hold up in a different environment? or maybe we're running out of wood ...you get the idea.

Wheels are nice. They get you where you want to go. Sometimes you have to fix them. Sometimes you need a new design or new materials not because the wheel is God, but because you have a job to do and you need a well-designed wheel to do it. Can you tell I live with an engineer?

...And life goes on...

Pondering missional #2: Language

Language.

Somewhere not far from the heart of it all, the "missional" discussion I sent you to is a search for language. We create new vocabulary when the old definitions and descriptions don't work anymore to say what we're trying to say. That's been true for generations. We need new words to represent new ideas or new discoveries and to replace the things that we want to leave behind. The quest for common language is, at some level, an attempt to unify.

So we have a new word for what we consider a new idea but we realize that it means different things to different people. We want a common definition so when we use this word we know we all mean the same thing. We want to tie it down the meaning to facilitate communication, to prevent misunderstanding, so when we use a word we're all on the same page. If you only have an hour, you want to be able to spend an hour talking about the idea and how to implement it. You don't want to spend all your time trying to define it. Well, there are some people who love spending hours crafting definitions, lol. Different members of the Body with different gifts. Members who need each other.

We need to know that the words we use with children in our care mean the same thing to the each children as they mean to us is also important.

How do you know? Ask! Ask them what it means, what they think of when you say a word, pick the right picture out of a group of pictures. Tell them what you think of when you hear those words.

Sometimes, our different understandings of language come out in discussions after the fact. "Our Father" is in heaven, not "Our Father" aren't in heaven. Which makes the recap important. When I was little and someone said "cramp" I always thought it meant a crab inside you. I wasn't too far off.

And it doesn't work to say, "Is there anyone who doesn't know what ____ means?" Who's going to raise their hand? Assume you're a child. What if you think you know what it means, and you find out you're wrong after it's all over and you miss the point? Or you think everyone understands but you and you don't want to stand out and embarrass yourself.

Language is something we take for granted. Maybe we shouldn't. We don't all share the same understandings, even as adults. Think about language/meaning/context, not just with kids from other cultures but from different regions and subcultures here in the US or North America: kids who watch TV and kids who don't, kids who participate in activities with the vocabulary you're using (sports, characters from books, animals, nature, . . .) and kids who don't. One of the challenges of living in such a diverse culture is finding common language. The more interaction we have with people who aren't like us the more we realize that we can't assume we speak the same language. We may need to assume that we don't.

Instead of assuming we disagree, a phrase like "I'm not sure I know what you mean when you say. . ." goes a long way towards building bridges.

missional discussion

Brother Maynard at Subversive Influence has a serious series of posts exploring the idea of "missional". I came across it this morning looking for something else of course. He calls this his appendix. Coming in at the tail end maybe I'm living backwards.

I haven't really read through all the links, yet, but it made me ask myself how I define "missional". In it's simplist form I define it as living with a sense of purpose - to love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul, strength and to love my neighbor as myself whatever I'm doing, wherever I find them. Not talking about it, just doing it. "Living" suggesting a flesh and blood expression as someone else mentions - Sonja, I think.

So then I asked myself, how does "missional" translate for children?

Children learn through the actions, ideas, and attitudes they see and experience. They learn to think, respond, act in ways that we encourage and reinforce. This includes not only the things we encourage and do with them but also behaviors and attitudes that we allow without correction. Not correcting bad behaviors and attitudes says "that's ok." Making excuses for bad behavior sends the same message.

The alternative? How do you want them to behave? "You can have fun [or] you can be confident [or] you can be flat-out-honest, but what you're doing - that's not how we treat people."

Step 2 , you have to teach them a different way to react and respond in that same situation. What is appropriate? Give them an alternative. "You're being sarcastic. Find another way to say that."

Step 3 Catch them doing it "right." And tell them. "I know ____ upset you but I saw how you handled that. Great job!" "I know you don't like ____ but that was a really kind thing to say."

This is the passage that sums up "missional" for me. It's not that the big social justice projects (giving to the poor, sending $, building houses, etc) aren't important but if I'm not learning to treat every person who crosses the paths of my life with love, dignity, and respect, I don't really understand what Jesus did.

These are just extras:

I Cor 8:1-3(NIV)

I Cor 13:3 (NIV)

Gal. 5:22-26

2 Pet 1:3-11

LCW: not the end...

Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods has a surprise ending as all well-written works should - a surprise, but not.

I found all these blog tags in this book: generations, inspiration, justice, kids in community, language, puppies (because they're creatures), questions, random, relational, resources, pondering, roots, stewardship, story, teaching learning, worship

Paul Gorman: (founder, director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, Amherst, MA) "To the extent that we separate our children from creation is the extent to which we separate them from the creator - from God..." (LCW p. 293)

"Just as many places of worship are going green, environmental organizations are increasingly likely to evoke the spiritual...Faith-based environmentalism can create strange bedfellows and powerful unions. . . Potentially, places of worship could be more important institutions than schools in connecting the young with the natural world. 'More and more people of faith, as they grow in their awareness of the connection between nature and religion, are bringing nature into the discussion,' says Gorman. 'But you have to start with parents. First and above all is for parents to understand this connection itself. The future is not about designing curriculum. It's about awakening to creation. Kids have to feel that this connection is vital and deep in their parents. They see through us all the time . . . as the connection becomes more vivid to us, our commitment to it becomes more authentic, and children respond to that authenticity. The most important thing is the awakening. That joy of awakening and discovery is what it's like to be a child." (LCW p. 295-6)

Do you hear the connection? Mr. Louv sites a lot of research to support his position, and you can use research to say whatever you like but there are some interesting observations. I'm more impressed with the wisdom. There's a lot of catch 22 - in order to change this, you have to change that. We don't always know what the consequences will be. I also like the fact that Louv is quick to listen to the other voices who join in the discussion, though he may not agree. He's spoken with lots of parents and children and teachers and leaders of organizations.

There are always cross-roads. There are always choices to make. There's always something we take for granted. It's easier than we think to turn around and discover that the thing we took for granted is suddenly gone. It really wasn't sudden. We made choices and no one warned us - or maybe someone warned us but it wasn't a priority at the time. Maybe it wouldn't be gone if we'd been better stewards - if we hadn't taken it for granted. Maybe whatever we lost wouldn't be gone if only we'd . . .

Saints

Happy St. Pat's Day !! (yesterday)

Saint. * The word means different things to Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. But I think it's good to understand why people believe what they believe historically and today, especially if we're part of the same Body or if we hope to build bridges that people are willing to cross to interact with the God we claim to know.

Here is an Orthodox info-site specifically for non-Orthodox inquirers with lots of avenues to investigate.

This information about saints comes from an Israeli art exhibition with a tie-in to beauty.

This article is from a Catholic source. It's critiquing another article, but it's interesting because it talks about the difference between saints and heros.

When it's time for Christmas, this is about St. Nick.

I don't know much about these sources. I'm not sure where they fall on the conservative/liberal spectrum. They're just sources of information. If you have better sources, feel free to share.

Given my Protestant background I only started thinking about this a few years ago. As an elementary student, I loved American History biographies. As a young adult I wasn't reading biographies much because I figured Jesus is enough. I think of Jesus as human but perfect because He's God. I think of saints as falling somewhere between human and perfect but closer to perfect and, as people of faith, they were overcomers. The Protestant perspective is that all believers are saints and God is looking for all of us to be overcomers.

We usually appreciate strong role models and real-life faith-filled heros for kids. Real people. People they can look up to, relate to, and learn from. People who overcome obstacles. Jesus was like that (is like that) He came as a real person. He's also God. He had obstacles to overcome and He worked miracles. Bible heros and people in our faith communities - we all have obstacles to overcome and God is still doing amazing things in our lives, but not everyone's willing to share their stories.

The word "saint" is in the scriptures. Consider it a language-of-faith issue, a specialized vocabulary word. What does it mean, this word "saint"? What does it mean to us? What does it mean to other people? Is it important? Not to take away from the scriputures but alot of the stories are great stories, stories that point people back to God.


*"Saint" as used in the scriptures also makes an interesting word study.

Words

After the last post (which doesn't seem to be showing on the first page of the blog) at least on my machine...

My husband and I were talking about stress and kids and he (bless him), as he's know to do, challenged the word nuances.

"cope" appropriate when you're talking about terminal illness but how about other stressful situations? Is it sufficient to help a child just cope? He said there's something called a coping saw that makes fine grooves so two different pieces fit together just right. I think of it as making peace, that kind of making peace. Helping someone make sense of a situation or at least come to some kind of peace.

"deal" we deal with situations. We deal with life. Is that an appropriate expression of faith?

"resilience" I actually like that describer as an outcome of faith

"overcome" Sometimes that's a more appropriate response. Maybe always? Is that what peace is?

What do you think?

A Child's Concept of God: Relationships

Children's Spirituality Chpt 13 "A Child's Concept of God" by Joyce E. Bellous , Simone A. de Roos (author of Educating Faith: An Approach to Christian Formation), and William Summey - an international team of authors.

Research shows that a child's self-concept is distinctly tied to a child's God-concept. As it turns out self-esteem, self-concept, God-concept and concepts that children have of others are all interrelated. "Parents, teachers, significant others, as well as salient things (e.g., church buildings, television programs) are influential in constructing a child's expectation that God is dependable, good and kind (or the opposite...) whether or not the child has formal religious training."(p. 204)]

However incomplete, language is an important element for people searching for evidence of faith in children. It's interesting that with or without religious training, children do, in fact, find language to articulate what we would consider faith. Apparently when they need the words, they will find the words.

Relationships are important to children. God made us that way. Faith in God is relational. He walked with Adam in the garden. He came to find us. Maybe this relational side of God makes it easier for kids to find the words they need?

1) Our own perception of God, 2) how we as parents (and other adults) relate to our children, 3) how we perceive other people in our attitude and behaviour all affect how children see God and how they see themselves but flip that.

Especially when they're little, children and how they perceive life and God and people also give us clues about ourselves and about God - not just what we're imparting to them but when they smile at you and touch you and love you I think Jesus is loving you. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them. We can give to one another, receive from one another, and grow in our knowledge of God together.