Here's the readings from this week's lectionery

...Looking for kids...

Isaiah 7:10-16 We think about the miracle of the virgin birth, the promise of God fullfilled. I think about an unwed teen mother and the range of emotion she must have experienced. Mary called her son Immanuel "God with us."

At what age are kids old enough to refuse evil and choose good?An interesting point of reference... Is it cultural?

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
How long will you be angry O Lord? Let your face shine. I don't really think about God that way, the God with the shining face. What does that look like to kids? People with shining faces? What makes somebody's face shine? Do you have kids who know about eating the bread and drinking the drink of tears? How about laughing enemies? Here is a picture of God: the Good Shepherd enthroned on cherubim shining forth. People calling to their shepherd, "Stir up your might! Come and save us! Make your face shine on us." A call to the Shepherd, not the soldier...never noticed that before.

Romans 1:1-7 The season of advent is full of Old Testament prophecy. The Christmas story, the Easter Story- full of Old Testament prophecy. What is prophecy? Have you or your kids ever watched God bring His Word to pass? What was that like? What was it like for people around Jesus? The passage starts about Paul & prophecy. It ends up being about Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25 Here is more of Mary's story and that of a very gracious man, apparently sensitive to the spirit of God as Mary was. It seems God sovereignly chose them. Imagine. Mary & Joseph believed God. How did they know it was Him? I don't know. We all assume they just knew. If I remember right the scriptures say that every word of the Lord - if it is the Word of the Lord -comes to pass...a season of odd happenings, prophecy fullfilled, answered prayer & God's face shining.

Pondering lectionary passages

So I pulled some scriptures out of the lectionary and posted them below only because those particular verses jumped out at me for whatever reason or I saw something I hadn't noticed before...

If you use the lectionary in your church or want the fun of using it for devotions. . . This is The Revised Common Lectionary at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. You'll see the year and the link on the left when you click.

Go looking for kids. You can use Bible stories that tie to the season. You can look for children in the text (reading it in context) or ask where were they? How did these words affect their parents, them, their community?  Look for promises to multi-generations. Look for imagery that is particularly appealing to kids or imagery that children can relate to. If children can't relate to the imagery and the ideas are age appropriate, (branches growing from a stump for instance) what can you do to add that experience to your kids so they have a point of reference? Do you see the passages about peace and being teachable? Don't you love the imagery of beating swords into plows and farm tools? Do you know a soldier turned farmer? A tree specialist? Do you know a metal worker?

I'm not talking long and complicated. Think snapshots in a big album, depending on the ages of your kids. Sure it's good to know the family and the stories and back stories that go with the snap shots but as kids grow you share a little more and a little more. And some day the whole picture of their Loved One makes sense.

Enjoy the season!

Tough Stories II

What if . . .

What if I focus on being that child staring up at my father standing over me raising his knife? When I was little, I never would have considered that story from that angle and I was a very imaginative child. There was no reason for me to think like that. The grown-ups around me wouldn't have imagined that scenario either. But what of the child who has seen his father like that? In the stillness of pondering the story, one child can take one trail, another child can take a different trail. God knows. They have different experiences, different needs. God can bring His story to each of them individually in ways they can handle. They won't both interact with the story (or with God) the same way. They may discover different sides of God but God is the same. God is there. God is faithful. God will provide.

God's Word will accomplish what He intends it to accomplish which leaves me wanting to stand back and let the story of scripture be the primary speaker free to do whatever the Spirit of God wants to do with individuals, even children. I'm trying to learn that I don't have to comment on everything. I don't have to explain everything. I don't have to have an answer for everything. Does that make me less a teacher?

I do need to know what the Word says and what it doesn't say - the details and the spaces - even if I refrain from forcing people to see through my eyes. There is a time to correct someone's understanding - if they're wrong about what the scriptures say or what they don't say otherwise we can end up in the worst kind of mess . . . but we need to let the details and spaces be what they are.

I think correcting wrong-thinking because someone thinks the Bible says something it doesn't or doesn't think something it does is different from a child's developmental perceptions. The sprout in the ground isn't "not a crocus" it's just not mature. It's still growing. A child's understanding is like that. Should I squash it or pull it up because it's not full grown? If I recognize poison ivy, let's pull it. If I don't know, I'd best let it grow 'til I know for sure.

What of the child who has seen his father, knife raised, ready to kill - a child who faces hard realities? I may never face those realities. None of the children I know may ever face those realities. We don't have to go there in our group discussions but what if a child initiates? What if he asks? God gives you the words you need when you need them. At the same time meditating on the Word regularly, chewing it prayerfully, interacting with Him constantly as you go through life gives you wisdom that flows from a deeper place (still from His Holy Spirit) - something that doesn't just fly off the top of your head when you're desperate and need a quick answer. It's also ok to say, "That's a really good question. I don't know the answer. Let's pray and think about that."

Wrestling with God changes us but sometimes the wrestling just brings us back to the simplest (but not simplistic) of truths. In that story, "God was there." "God provided." "We don't know all the answers."

What of that child who needs more than simple answers? Is there something in this story for him? Is there something in scripture for him? The story of Joseph - sold a slave, Naaman's slave girl, Daniel in exile? Did you ever think about those children in those situations or how they got there to begin with and the realities that went with it? Scripture doesn't give us the details but chances are they are the same hard cold details that children experience in abusive or oppressive situations today - maybe worse. If we knew all the details we would know that they aren't sterile stories. But God chose not to give us those details.

We don't want those details for children. Not in story, not in life. We would never condone treating children like that. No one rescued the children in these stories. Yet these children are examples to us. They give us hope. God was with those children.God came through for them. God provided. Those children were faithful to God (and it appears that they respected their captors). God used those children in powerful ways not just to stand strong and survive, not just to affect the people around them, but their lives and stories carry God's story to nations and generations. It would be interesting to revisit those stories and see what happened to the peoples responsible for taking those children captive. It's a scary story. Not only the real circumstances those children were in but what God did. Most of us have no idea how incredibly fearsome and awesome He is.

Tough Stories I

Thinking more about that 1st chapter of TCITB (Abraham and Issac) and about the author's observations and comments regarding abuse and the imagery of a child staring at dad standing over him with a knife and the scariness of that scenario . . . (the author was Terence E. Fretheim)

One of the things about scripture - I think the people from Young Children in Worship (YCIW) said this - is that sacred story, unlike modern media, doesn't fill in all the details. It doesn't tell you everything. It leaves room to ruminate, to ponder. It leaves space for the imagination - doors and windows for the Holy Spirit to help us see just a little more of life through His eyes.

I want to believe that the details God gives us and the details He leaves out are intentional. As we ponder the detail and the spaces that lack detail in God's stories, as we meditate on a passage - words from God's own mouth - we can draw near to Him and know Him just a little better. Sometimes He fills in spaces, sometimes He doesn't. We aren't all little clones. Our life experiences aren't identical. There is some freedom attached to those spaces. The spaces also give us the freedom to see the stories through the eyes and experience of the children without going beyond that.

Here is the space that a grown-up was pondering through the eyes of a child: What did Isaac see when he was lying on the table and his father was standing over him? Did Abraham have anger in his eyes. . . or. . was he trying not to be angry at God. . . or . . . was he emotion-less (the Lord gives, the Lord takes away) . . . Maybe he was a passionate man who wasn't afraid to express his emotions . . . Maybe tears streamed down his face. These are spaces. God doesn't tell us the details. We can only ask questions. We don't really know. But that's ok. We don't need to know. Without changing the scriptures at all - space or detail- none of the scenarios I've explored are true or not true. We just don't know. The spaces leave possibilities to ponder. Is that lack of detail insignificant ("don't think about that because we don't know") or can the possibilities - the missing details draw us closer to God than details - places where the Spirit of God can minister to different people in different ways about different things. Maybe the spaces just give God room to be God.

But what if . . . ?

WWTK: Lots Children

We find the story of Lot's children in Genesis 19. Had they experienced life as part of Abram's entourage and life in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah? Or just city? Not clear. And this wasn't just a city. This was a city so bad that God chose to destroy it. Abram cared enough about Lot to entreat God to rescue him. But God didn't rescue just Lot. He rescued, or tried to rescue, his whole family.

So the angels go off to rescue Lot because of the faith of Abram and because God was willing. Lot feels compelled to protect these strangers from his city so he offers his own daughters to the men outside. Did the girls know what their father did? Were they within earshot? They were engaged to other men. Though the cultural/historical context probably affected how they thought and what they felt, their father had offered them to appease a mob - probably not the cultural norm even in ancient times.

Lot was willing to sacrifice family members to protect these strangers. What does that say about Lot? Good? Bad?

Lot calls the men of the city "friends."The men of the city still see Lot as an "alien." (NIV) Had Lot's daughters grown up part of a "alien" family trying to make friends in a sexually charged city?

Violent men are trying to break into their house. The angels strike the men blind.

Were the girls curious about these strangers? Enamored? We don't know.

The angels tell Lot's family it's time to flee. They're going to destroy the city. But the girls are engaged to be married. What about the engagements? Their intendeds aren't willing to leave. Their future husbands think their future father-in-law is joking. "We'll stay, thanks!". I don't know how that would have worked in that particular culture and who was obligated to whom but it must certainly have been awkward.

Lot, his wife, and his daughters are literally dragged away from all they know - possessions, people, promises. Their father is still negotiating with the angels, not just human strangers but angels. The girls probably see their mother turn back and turn into salt. Ah, maybe not. If they had turned around they would have turned to salt, too...right? But it must have been pretty clear that when these strangers say something, they mean it.

What's left of the family take refuge in a neighboring city and then these city people flee to the mountains. They hide in a cave. Odd? They must have had provisions, they have wine.

Though their engagements fell through, the girls have a strong sense of preserving their family line. Their actions violate Hebrew Law and our modern day sensibilities yet the end result: Lot fathered the Moabites and the Ammonites. Neither people were allowed to enter the house of the Lord for 10 generations but neither did God allow the Hebrews to harass them or take away the land that God had given them. Despite all the hassles with Moab and Ammon, generations later, Ruth would appear in God's story - a Moabite and great-grandmother to a boy named David - her husband part of Abram's story and she part of Lot's.

Why is it that, in the scriptures, God tells us what He tells us and leaves out what He leaves out? I wonder.

WWTK: Lot

According to Bible Gateway, there are about 30 references to Lot (capital L) in the scriptures. There's probably a lot to learn about the man (and the child) . The most obvious thing we know about Lot is that he is the son of Abram's brother -Abram's nephew - but possibly like a son in that Abram and Lot lived together for a long time. Lot had opportunity to see a man of faith up close. He was "only" a nephew, not a son, but he was a child in one of God's stories.

We don't know how old Lot was when they left Haran, but we know he moved when Abram moved as God sent Abram on his journey. We can read the story of Abram and imagine it through the eyes of his nephew- when would Lot have been around? When would he not? But God didn't tell Abram's story from Lot's point of view.

We know that Lot lived with his uncle's family well into adulthood. What he thought, how he felt, the things that affected him as a boy are all speculation but we know he prospered like his uncle.We know there came a time when there wasn't enough room for them to coexist with all their possessions.

Abram could have been content with Lot as an adopted son. Abram could have said "Thanks, God, one is enough." But God made Abram a promise to give him a child of his own and Abram believed God. We don't know if that effected Abram's relationship with his nephew. Did Lot get the short end of the deal? Or did he prosper anyway? It appears that Abram took good care of Lot. He came to Lot's rescue once in person and once in prayer.

2 Peter suggests that Lot was a righteous godly man buy we don't know much about Lot's faith. Abram was the one in the family who seems to be living the faith-driven life. We can guess that Lot spent a fair amount of time in Abram's company. Yet from a evangelical or fundamentalist point of view, Abram probably wasn't always the best role-model in the world.

Lot didn't seem surprised when the old man sent two strangers to him with a strange message on an odd mission. If your uncle sent two strangers to your house on the same mission with the same message, what would you think? Did he know they came because of Abram? We don't know.

Less than perfect

I have two new WWTK posts - one about Lot and one about his children. But before I post them, ponder with me a little.

2 Tim. 3:14-17 is a familiar passage about the scriptures which means that it would apply to the portion of the scriptures that include God's stories.

Perhaps one of the most interesting characteristics about God's stories is that His characters are so "not perfect." Frankly, even Jesus yelled at people and caused a commotion in the temple which would lead some people to conclude that He wasn't perfect either. For whatever reason, having grown up in the church, these characters are forever forged in my mind as perfect. Yet every time I read the scriptures it's evident to me that their lives and their choices were far from church-perfect. If they'd lived today, how many of them would we find in our churches? If so, wouldn't they be the ones in need of rebuke, correction and re-training? We're called to live godly lives and these are the people we get to learn from.

What does it mean? What's "perfect"? Is it relevant to our faith? Loving God and loving neighbors - that's relevant. Is being "perfect" what faith and Godly living is all about? What are we striving for as believers walking with God? God's stories are about God interacting and intervening in the lives of men and women like us - people from another culture and another time but still like us. God, of course, is the same yesterday, today, and forever-the God who opened the Red Sea, sent plagues, healed the sick, poured out His Spirit, saved a baby in a basket...

All those stories! "[my paraphrase] You've known the scriptures since you were little. Continue in what you've learned and become convinced of. Consider who you learned from. God's stories (and all of scripture) are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. They are God-breathed. Use them for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so men and women of God can be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Some stories say "When _______ did this, these were the consequences." Some are not so clear. Yet even as grown-ups God's stories keep teaching us. They rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness. They equip us for every good work even though God's characters aren't perfect. We're learning about God.

WWTK: Wondering

There were lots of people with Abram and Sarah, some from Haran, some from Egypt. Were they all Hebrews? Did they have to convert? Did the people know about the promise God made to Abraham? Were there children in this entorage before Ishmael and Isaac were born?

When I was little and people got married we waited expectantly for babies - a different culture, then. In ancient Israel, people probably got married and babies followed shortly, too. I wonder if kids looked forward to babies the same way we did? Or maybe it was just me.

Abram and Sarah were very old. The people Abram and Sarah's age were grandparents, great-grandparents... Did people talk? God was going to give them children...hmmm...When kids heard their parents talking did parents have to explain why they didn't think this could possibly happen? Or did they think it could?

Or did they just think, "Probably Lot. God probably meant Lot."

But Lot's men and Abram's men start fighting. Lot leaves with all his people. What will God do? Will Lot get the land that God promised? Lot ends up somewhere else. We can ask wonder questions about Lot's children, too, but again all this is speculation. I wonder if they were born in Sodom or if they had experienced both cultures. I wonder how protective Lot was or not. Did they know that the men who came to rescue them were angels?

Perhaps the children in Abram's camp were totally unaware of the promise to Abram and Sarah or perhaps they were listening when their grown-ups talked about it, if they talked about it. People probably talked. I wonder if the adults thought Abram was crazy.

Imagine being a child and wondering... we all belong to, or work for, or we're related to (LOL) a crazy man...a rich, successful crazy man. . . a man who is old and gray and still believes that God will give him children...

WWTK: the promise

Here's another situation where the children who weren't there are critical to God's story: Right in the beginning of Abram's journey God made a promise. But it wasn't exactly a promise to Abram. "'To your offspring I will give this land...'" (Gen. 12:7 NIV)

Abram built an alter to the God who appeared to him, the God who made a promise to his children - children yet to be born. The obvious: in order for God to keep his promise, Abram would have to have children. (This man is 75 years old.)

It's interesting that
-the promise (and the land) was for his children, not Abram.
-the promise was given before these children were even born.
-this land was located somewhere at the beginning of the journey - one of the places he first set foot but he didn't stay there.
-children were absolutely required for God to keep His promise, even though Abram and Sarai weren't able to have children on their own. This is before the days of technological "miracles". And apparently having a nephew wasn't enough.

Abram believed God but apparently, he also kept walking "Go to the land that I will show you". He didn't stay put and just sit around doing nothing until God kept His promise to his heirs. Maybe being willing to keep walking was as much faith as believing the promise.

WWTK: Abram and Sarai

In Genesis 12-15 we're introduced to Abram and Sarai. Abram is part of Terah's story, who is part of Shem's story, who is part of....enough already...

References to children are missing in a lot of Bible stories but in the first part of this particular story not having children - not being able to have children is a driving element. You can look at all the historical and cultural factors (the most obvious being no children, no story - the story ends) but if you ask "where were the children," even though we don't hear about them, they were a driving force here - their absence was a force to be reckoned with, as it were. And, yes, God used it.

Take children and every child/seed related reference totally out of that story. What's missing? What's left?

The scriptures are God's story. We're part of His story. We listen, we read. Yes, we learn about ourselves but we learn about God. Asking "where were the kids" I don't want to lose sight of that. He's the hero. He's the teacher. Does God cause things to happen or is life just full of opportunities to get to know God better? I don't know.

Stories and geneologies...ah...not again...

Ok, all you Hebrew students! More food for thought here:

Genesis 11:10 - The KJV reads: "These are the generations of Shem . . ."
Youngs Literal: "These [are] births of Shem. . . "
NAS: "These are the records of the generations of Shem. . . "
NIV: "This is the account of Shem . . ."

But Genesis 11:10 (NIrV) from the International Bible Society reads, "Here is the story of Shem . . ." and the scriptures go on to list his children and their children and their children . . . Is story one of the meanings or an implied meaning of that Hebrew word for "generations"? Is it implied when they refer to the "account of" or the "book of?" In Genesis 5:1 (KJV) we find "This is the book of the generations of Adam. . ." Maybe that's where they got "story".

Gosh! All the generations that follow me are part of my story? We, as God's children are part of His story? Of course! Past generations had better handles on that kind of thinking.

Interesting? It was even more interesting to read that particular translation because (besides Christine's comments) I recently read this on a reader's blog. (If you're a graduate student or doing doctorate work, she has some other interesting posts, here.)

WWTK: Babel

The Story of Babel

Apparently, between the ark and the dispersion at the end of the Babel story everyone spoke the same language. ". . .the whole world had one language and a common speech." (Gen 11: 1) "The whole world" sounds so much bigger than just the thought that maybe they all spoke the same language because they were still all from the same family.

The people did what they did. God did what He did - God intervened in the affairs of men. The language thing, family, city, making a name, reaching the heavens, oneness of purpose, cooperation, determination ...There's a lot to ponder in this very short story.

Imagine being a child and watching all this and asking, "Why can't we finish building the tall tower?" (Maybe they didn't even know what a tall tower was!)

"Why do we have to move?"

"Why can't I understand my cousin anymore?" (The beginning of linguistics!)

And there's the line about the bricks. It probably would have been easier to use stones and mortar unless of course there weren't any stones or there weren't enough stones. Ever see a child build with stones? Do you think that later when the Israelites were in Egypt they remembered that line about the bricks and the story of Babel?

"The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'" (Gen 11:6-7 NIV)

But what if God hadn't intervened when He did? Would that mean that nothing we plan to do would be impossible for us? We'd never be frustrasted? We'd always succeed? Every parent, every teacher, every child's dream! God didn't want that? Is He opposed to cooperation, determination, and ambitious achievement of the impossible? Was that the only moment in time when God could have affected the outcome? A little food for Science Fiction and Fantasy writers: What if God hadn't stopped them from building that tower? What if everyone in the world still spoke the same language and we could accomplish anything we decided to do and we could build a building that reached to the heavens anytime we wanted and make a name for ourselves?

Another angle - have you ever been part of a very close extended family who gathered for holidays and lived close but people you loved started moving away and you hardly ever saw them anymore? Have you ever been part of the generation that moved away - off in different directions so your children grew up not knowing extended family the way you did? Do you know children who hear stories of extended family but live too far away to experience that with family or perhaps they experience that with friends, instead?

Have you ever asked unchurched kids to tell you about a story from scripture and make observations? Kids who have never learned what that Bible story is "supposed" to mean? The story of Babel would be an interesting one to try.

WWTK

That's 10 chapters of Genesis. I don't want to bore you, but you get the idea.

An interesting journey - prayerfully reading and pondering the scriptures asking "Where were the children. . ."

Once they were children...

It would be easy to look at some of these chapters as Hebrew stories about the beginnings of creation, man, nations, etc, etc. But we don't look at them as just myth or just legend. They are God's stories.

I enjoy family geneologies so I don't mind the geneologies in scripture. All these people played important roles in God's story.

But I never thought of all these people as children. Of course they were children. Except Adam and Eve. We may grow up thinking our parents were never children but Cain and Abel's parents never were. Imagine that!

In Genesis 10 when you read, "the first people who lived by the sea" do you think about the first children by the sea? When you read about Nimrod, "a mighty hero on the earth ... a mighty hunter in the Lord's eyes," do you think, "once he was a little boy" ?

Imagine each of your great grandchildren becoming a whole tribe, a whole nation, each with their own distinct language, culture, customs, and history.

These people were once children. They had names like Cush, Canaan, Babylon, Ninevah, Magog, Egypt, Assyria, Raamah, Sodom, Gomorrah, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites. Where have I heard these names before? I don't think about Noah, God's friend, when I hear those names. I think about enemies. But each began as a member of Noah's family and whether we like them or not, each would plan an important role in God's story.

We can only be so literal with all of this, but it changes my perspective just a little to think that all these names in all these geneologies were once children. And they had parents.

There are ways we help determine the fate of our children and ways we don't.

God's patience with man through all these generations was truly amazing. Maybe the stories God tells us are about the moments when He intervenes.

Noah and the Ark

But you know, God never gave us a story about Noah the child comforter or Noah the child of a man who killed someone or Noah the child who knew Adam and multiple generations. God chose to mention these but not go into detail.

The Nephilim had children - sons and daughters, children of famous heroes of long ago. But God doesn't tell us their stories, either.

God tells us the story of Noah and the ark, instead. We do know that God decided that He didn't want to struggle with a man for more than 120 years at a time. He says, "The Lord was very sad that he had made man on the earth. His heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, 'I created man on the earth. But I will wipe them out. I will destroy people and animals alike. I will also destroy the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air. I am very sad that I have made man.'" (Genesis 7: 6-7 NIrV)

"But the Lord was pleased with Noah." (Genesis 7:8 NIrV)

Noah was grown. Noah was OLD! His sons were married and grown. It's worth noting that his sons went with him on this crazy journey. Otherwise, no children in sight. No grandchildren. But later small ears would listen to the story. Maybe I'm assuming too much to think children would be listening to all these stories. Historically, isn't that how children learned, listening to stories?

Children still listen to the stories of Creation, Adam and Eve, maybe Cain and Abel (for school aged kids), Noah and the Ark. These stories don't have children in them. We find a couple of people and alot of animals. Yet these are still among the first Bible stories that children hear.

I just think it's interesting.

Noah and His Dad

I never realized that Noah's father had murdered someone until the last post from Gen. 4. What kind of man was Lamech? How did that affect Noah? Maybe in that day and age it wasn't unusual.

But this is Noah of Noah and the Ark fame. Our Noah. It shakes my image of the man in the Bible story just a little.

But the scriptures add this tiny bit about Lamech, the father, and his son: "He named him Noah. Lamech said, 'He will comfort us when we are working. He'll comfort us when our hands work so hard they hurt. We have to work hard. That's because the Lord has put a curse on the ground.'" (Verse 29 NIrV) (There's the ground again.)

Imagine children living among such an ancient ancient people. Imagine children living among so much living history. Imagine Noah the child, comforting his father, comforting his family, comforting a community.

People, Numbers, and Math

I am absolutely not a numbers and math person but even for me the numbers and the math in Genesis 5 is pretty amazing - the way people's lives overlapped - children knowing great grandparents and multiple generations ... I remember four of my great grand-parents. Someone once asked the question Did "Noah know Adam?" It's a fun math problem for older kids.

What wisdom must have lived in that community. Or maybe not...maybe there was wasn't any wisdom even among such an ancient lot.

We can imagine but we really don't know.

Naming

We look at name meanings in scripture to tell us just alittle more about people we often don't know anything else about. Endless geneologies - fathers, sons, sometimes mothers and daughters. Sometimes all we have is a name. Why are they even there if they're just names? Maybe they were "nobodies," like most of us. Were they important just because they were someone's father or mother, someone's son or daughter or because they were part of Jesus' human lineage? Were they important because God was keeping His promise to Abraham to multiply his descendants? Whatever the reason, they're important enough to be included in the holy scriptures.

I thought about all the names listed between Cain and Abel and Seth. I thought about Seth naming his son and Adam naming every living creature. We take it for granted, but it's a priviledge to be given opportunity to name brand new lives created by someone else. God could have named them all Himself but He didn't. We don't know why. What would we risk to let our children name the things we create - not their creations, but ours? Interesting that God would take that risk.

I wonder if naming things was important enough for children to pretend naming the things they played with and the things they found.

Different cultures have different naming customs but names and identity always seem closely tied together. How do we name children in our culture?
-How many names do we reject for a child because a name belongs to someone we know - someone we don't want a child to model or someone we do want a child to model.
-Maybe we don't want a child to spend his or her whole life trying to live up to someone else's reputation.
-Maybe knowing his/her namesake gives a child confidence to aspire to be like someone they love and respect.
-Maybe we pick a unique name because we want that child to grow up to be an individual - to make a name for him/herself, his/her own name - or because we don't want them to live under someone else's shadow.

Do I give my name meaning through my own behavior? Or does my name shape who I am? Probably a little of both.

If you're a teacher, how significant is someone's name, even before you meet them and work with them? In a community of people, whether we like it or not, our name often precedes us. Our family name still tells people who we are. It's tough to change the reputation associated with a name. Teachers can help.

In scripture a father was an important part of someone's identity. Jesus - Son of God. We have been called children of God. An amazing thing. To give someone your name through adoption or marriage was significant. It still is. Interesting that God gave us His name as His children and also as the Bride of Christ.

We didn't name God. God already had His name. God's name was so significant that the Hebrews weren't even allowed to say it. In our own culture we've chosen not to practice that tradition. I wonder why.

Jesus was the son of and we are the children of one whose name can't be spoken ...

If we were to look at names as inconsequential, that would be significant, too. As I was writing, my daughter mentioned friends fostering puppies and how not naming them keeps you from getting too attached. Once you name them, you get attached.

After Cain and Abel

Cain* has a son. His name is Enoch. My Cruden's concordance tells me it means "dedicated" or "disciplined and well-regulated." Interesting after what Cain did.

Enoch's son? Irad - "wild ass" or "heap of descents" or "of empire"
Irad's son? Mehujael - "who proclaim's God" or "God that blots out" or "who is smitten by God"
Mehujael's son? Methushael - ""who demands his death or death is his hell (grave)"
Methushael's son? Lamech "poor," "made low," "he is struck,"

Fathers, sons, grandsons. Once they were all little. Mothers and daughters were there too. We know even less about them except that they had to be there.

Lamech is married when he says to his wives, "...I have killed [or I will] a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times." God didn't say it. Lamech did. It seems 5 generations later Lamech had even more gall than Cain.

Lamach married Adah ("an assembly") and Zillah ("shadow" "roasted" "tingling of the ear") He was the father of Jabal - the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. He was also the father of Jubal - the father of all who play the harp and flute. Lamach was also the father of Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Not unlike the stuff of myth and legend in other cultures. He also had a daughter Naamah (meaning not found). I forgot to search for name meanings when the scriptures told me what they did.

Then scripture says that Adam and Eve had another son and named him Seth. The NIV says Seth means "granted": "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." That makes sense but before I read it in Gateway I read Crudens. Crudens says Seth means "put" or "who puts." Somehow naming a child "put" rings of discouragement to me. Naming a child "granted" rings more of humility. But I guess those two feelings aren't too far removed from one another.

Seth had a son, and he named him Enosh. Enosh "fallen man subject to all kinds of evil in soul and body."

"At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD" - the last sentence in Genesis 4. I'd never noticed before how closedly man calling on the name of the LORD was tied to parenting and raising children. What? Because of the kids, man first called on the name of the Lord? Probably not intended to be funny but I have to admit it made me smile. Actually, it made me laugh out loud.

Took them 6 generations, 6 generations to call on the name of the Lord! It took them 6 generations of child-raising to call on the name of the Lord. One side of me is amazed. The other . . . not. . . God knows we're a stubborn lot.




*Cain means "possession". Abel means "vanity" "breath" "vapor." Other sources may use other meanings but it's interesting.

Cain and Abel/Adam and Cain

Reread God's interaction with Adam after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, after God found out. Then read God's interaction with Cain after God calls him on killing his brother.

[An aside-Just for fun, both parts again and focus on the ground. The role that the ground/creation plays in both Adam's story and Cain's story is interesting.]

-It seems that Adam accepted the consequences of his actions "like a man" but Cain responds (I'd say he whines) "This is more than I can bear..." "This is too much God. This is too hard."

-After God confronts Adam and issues the consequences, God makes Adam and Eve clothes to cover them. God keeps caring for them. After God confronts Cain, He keeps caring for him. There are consequences for Cain, but if anyone does to Cain what Cain did to Abel the consequences will be even more severe than they are for Cain.

-Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. Cain also left the presence of God. Permanently? Or as in "conversation over"? I don't know. If God was going to deal with anyone who killed Cain, God would have to keep a close eye on him.

There was a time when you couldn't imagine a pre-teen doing something like this. Not so, today. Even here, Cain was old enough that God held him accountable for his actions. How old? We don't know. But notice that it wasn't Adam who issued consequences or punished his son. It was God.