more Real Kids, Real Faith

Some glimpses of Real Kids, Real Faith by Karen Marie Yust. I'm halfway through. I'd say this is less about engaging culture and more about growing bicultural children. The primary target audience is parents, but there are alot of insights for teachers and pastors.

"...my children are living in two cultures. One...is that of our local community...the other ...is that of our religious community...Both of these cultures contribute to my children's particular understanding of what the world is like, how it works, and who they are in it. But one of these cultures - that of the general community environment-has much greater potential to dominate my children's thinking because, like the commercial icons who represent it, my children encounter it almost everywhere. I don't have to wonder whether this culture will influence my children's lives, my concern has to be with how much power this culture has relative to the second culture - that of our religious community." Her goal for her children is that they become bi-cultural. What's interesting about this is that they aren't denying one for the other but striving to make one just as strong as the other. (p. 28)

She compares this experience with that of ethnic immigrants in a new land. Ethnic immigrants deal with this one of three ways: "1) they withdraw into stronger identification with their ethnic tradition, 2) they relinquish many of their ethnic characteristics through assimilation into the wider culture, or 3) they develop a strong indentification with both cultures." These are the children who become bi-cultural. (p. 29)

She's talks about "creating a spiritual world": environment, culture, holidays. (p. 21) She talks about "stories that draw children into a life of faith." (most of chapter 3) She talks about "Spiritual celebrations for ordinary events." (p. 62-63) She's talks about language - "religious bilingualism". (p. 70)

She's talks about linking the spiritual and the everyday. Example: She and her 3 year old son were playing ball. He perceived that God played catch with them. As the ball was flying into the air God intercepted it and sent it back down. The author says, "I remember thinking at the time that perhaps I should tell him gravity, not God, was responsible for the ball's arc. The words I settled on, however, were that 'God uses gravity to make the ball act that way.' My explanation linked the religious and the scientific in a way that permitted my son to believe in both as active forces in his environment." (p. 91)

She talks about "helping children name God's presence in their lives." When her 9 year old daughter asked why God let her friend get cancer still believing him to be an all-powerful healer, it lead to "conversation about the brokenness of the world and God's grief over the sickness and tragedy... [Her daughter] could imagine becoming a partner with this "new" God, who desired to have the 'hands and feet' of ordinary people in this world working to share God's love in times of health and illness." (p. 91-92)

I'm finishing chapter 4. Her insights and understandings are really interesting. This is a book that's apt to leave you wondering, how can I order my life in such a way that my children see, hear, taste, smell, touch (experience) faith as an integral part of who we are, who they are and who we are as a family.

There are "questions for reflection and discussion" at the end of the book.