Playing

We're back into the program year so this is a good time to get back to regular posting here.

Ironic that its the program year that provides the impetus, because the first thing I have to say is about play.

The importance of play is old news of course, but I'm in the process of learning its importance personally. It's been a reoccurring theme, highlighted this summer by my neighbor's wise insistence as I prepared for vacation that I use the time to PLAY with my kids. It all fits together wonderfully with the numerous bits of insight that keep reinforcing my conviction that the gospel about becoming like little children in order to enter the realm of God's reign is deeply significant.

Sunday I saw the relevance of play again. The kids were quiet and reserved. Clearly some of what I'd planned would not work because the kids weren't comfortable enough to participate in the ways I had imagined. So I went with plan B and read a Bible story in the form of a pop up book. They slid right up close to the book and were eager to open flaps and pull tabs. Then we played with play dough. We used it as a bridge to the story and other topics of the day. But the more important aspect was that it opened up our interactions and relationships. We were talking, playing and imagining together.

So...(I say to myself as much as you)...yes, you have to be the adult, do the planning, keep the big picture and all...but make sure you let go and play...let the children teach you...don't let yourself or the children miss that opportunity.

PLAY!

The Sheep, the Wolf & the Shepherds

I had another good experience telling a Godly Play style story (really from Young Children and Worship) Sunday.

One child really seems to have grasped who Jesus is in these stories. When the Jesus character is introduced in other terms, like the Good Shepherd, this child is quick to interject, "Jesus!"

One kid had an interesting question: When the Good Shepherd stood between the wolf and the sheep that were scattered, were those sheep his own sheep or the Ordinary Shepherd's sheep?

The issue that resonated strongest with me was that one or two kids wanted to put the wolf (who of course represented danger or worse) in the sheepfold with the sheep. One of them who told their own story with the materials worked it out so that the wolf was friendly and wouldn't hurt the sheep.

Probably this is due to the naivete of the fortunate young who have, thankfully, not yet had to come to terms with much danger, darkness, or evil. But I wonder about the idea that it is a mindset not yet acculturated to so readily dichotomize the world into the good and the bad, us and them; a mindset not so quick to assume and label.

I find it interesting that the natural inclination of these children seems to be to care for the well being of the wolf, while the theological perspective of the story is seemingly otherwise, at least at an adult's first glance.

Of course I don't want to put any children at any sort risk by not applying the wisdom and perspective of an adult to protect them from all kinds of danger. But neither do I like the idea that our Christian agenda might often be to squelch or redirect this caring response of the children.

Likewise I found myself uncomfortable with the Good Shepherd vs Ordinary Shepherd Distinction. In common usage of the term, most of us are more or less ordinary, in ways we don't always identify as bad. Is there something wrong with the ordinary? Is ordinary not good? Is ordinary bad? Is this a statement of human nature as being inherently basically bad, sinful or inadequate? It's not that I approve of the job the Ordinary Shepherd did in letting the sheep scatter or in running away when the wolf came. But is ordinary the best term for these actions of the "Ordinary Shepherd"? Is this what an ordinary shepherd would do? What other terms might be used than ordinary?

At least I think we need to wonder if the children might be onto something that we adults would do well to learn from. I wonder if their responses have anything to do with what the gospel means when it talks about the need to become as little children to enter the kingdom of God.

This Stuff Works!

Again this Sunday I was impressed with the results of using a story from Young Children and Worship or Godly Play. My experience and training in these curricula are limited, my materials are mostly home made out of cardboard and paper...and still I see such interest and response from children!

I was able to give a couple kids a lot of time to work with the story materials themselves after I told the story about Zacheaus. They are eager to do this. One child used the materials to work through the story again without using the words. The other child largely made up new scenarios with the materials. The most poignant of these in my mind was when the child had someone say to Zacheaus: "Do you know why people don't like you? Go that way," pointing toward Jesus, "There is a man who will love you."

When Will the Story Come Back?

Yesterday a child asked, "When will the story come back?"

They meant the stories that Aron has read from children's books during Sunday morning services.

We started doing that with the intention of doing it as often as possible. That hasn't turned out to be very often lately. It's hard to find the time to identify a workable book relevant to the text or theme for each week.

Here's an encouragement to up it on the priority list.

When Can We Hear the Story?

I was pleased that when my kids missed a session of the progressive Godly Play Advent/Christmas/Epiphany story, they asked when I would tell it to them! They even brought it up more than once!

I was also pleased to hear that another family liked the stories enough that they became a topic of conversation at their house Sunday evenings.

Something good was going on there.

More on the King

Each week's Godly Play Advent story involves retelling part of the story from each previous week of Advent.

My training in Godly Play is quite limited. I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but in the 2nd week of Advent I didn't repeat the part from Advent I about the king.

The child who included the king in their drawing last week asked why I hadn't told about the king.

Obiously the part about the king made a significant impression. Wow. Interesting, again!

Drawing the Story

I told the Godly Play story for Advent I on Sunday.

One child present made a drawing. It included representations of the materials used to tell the story and a picture of the king (with crown).

As I wrote that, I just put it together with the fact that this child had been a king for Halloween. Interesting.

Anyway, I was excited to see the evidence of engagement I think the picture represented.

Making Ribbon Sticks - and Doing Things Differently

My experiment in doing things differently is off to an encouraging start.

Today we made blue ribbon sticks for Advent after the 10:00 service.
There was also a Bishop's Committee report forum, led by Lou, which I believe included report of my attendance at the last Bishop's Committee meeting in which, among other things, I identified the need not to do so much of what I do at church in children's & family ministry alone.

Out of today's events comes the following.

Thank you to:

• Everyone who brought blue ribbon
• Anthony(??) whose name have to ask his name again...for helping move the table
• Madge for volunteering to help a couple weeks ago, being right there today & making a point of inviting kids to participate
• Deacon Sandy for going around "ordering" adults to participate
• All the adults & children who participated. (I hope you enjoyed yourselves.)
• Patti for getting a napkin to clean up my daughter's spilled juice*
• Aron for putting the activity in the space it was in & for announcing it
• George for agreeing to staple the ribbons onto the sticks on Wednesday
• Ethel & Madge for their offers of help in the future
• People who I imagine were involved in ways I didn't notice or don't recall.

I feel like we did something together today. That seems good. That will make using the ribbon sticks all the better too.

I've had more than my usual amount of conversations with other people at church in the last couple weeks too. Being where more people are makes that possible. They haven't all been big conversations. But I feel like they're important.

* I only found out about this spilled juice episode later as my kids & I talked about the difficulties they had when I was so taken up with the other interactions of the activity that I wasn't responding to them very well....Mommy my juice spilled and I was trying to tell you but you didn't hear me and then that other lady got a napkin to wipe it up.... Note to Aron & Bishop's Committee: isn't this story an interesting juxtaposition with my story of the juice spill of a couple weeks ago?

"Yeah"

I enjoyed little evidences yesterday of my kids picking up on things from church, engaging with them, and enjoying them:

• a comment about why they selected a can of pears to bring for the food basket: because they (the recipients) don't have to cook them (I think we talked about this being a relevant issue for some of the recipients once).
• a question about the location of a favorite coloring sheet (may I add, with pride & gratification, that I drew this particular coloring sheet)
• attentiveness to the drummer who played for the gospel procession (I probably don't have the right word for that)
• a question about when we could walk the labyrinth again (it was way back at Lent that we had the labyrinth at church.)
• the craning and moving around to be able to see what was going on when Aron invited all the kids up to participate in a baptism
• my kids' interest and great fun in interacting with another child at church and Sunday School
• one of my kids taking the initiative to write great-grandparents' names on a ribbon stick being prepared for next Sunday's All Saints observance. (I had mentioned doing that, but I think only briefly once, maybe another time at home, but it was done without further direction or assistance, even in spelling the names!)

I also enjoyed the fact that my kids' behavior was better than usual during church today (let's hope we're making genuine progress, not just hitting good luck for a day)

AND I got to interact and visit with another parent more than usual. It was a pleasure to visit and to make an acquaintance a little better acquaintance.

It was a good day.

In Session

It's been too long since I've written.

Meanwhile, my neighbor & I made a set of ribbon sticks that seemed to be make a good first run during the rally Sunday procession.

What I hope will be a new tradition has started and Aron has read a few good kid's books related to the day's gospel during Sunday morning services. Kids seem engaged in listening. One book in particular elicited a spontaneous positive comment from one of my kids. I always like the spontaneous feedback.

Sunday School is under way. I've noticed some particular interest in certain Sunday School activities. For example, on the way to Sunday School I've heard, "I'll do the thanks be to God part."

So, this is good and we'll carry on.

They Have to Be Doing Something

Last week was Vacation Bible Camp. Gethsemane joined St Mark's Cathedral.

My job was basically to be in charge of the 3-4 year olds.

One of the adults (who I think was sent to help for a couple days when it was becoming apparent what a difficult and desperate situation it was to be in charge of the 3-4 year olds) pointed out about this age that they have to be doing something.

I think that has good applicability beyond age 4 and its gotten me thinking in terms of what we offer kids (or adults) the chance to do (other than sit still and be quite) when they're at church.

Here are examples of positive responses from my kids or others that stand out to me :

• Participation in the Palm Sunday procession elicited a spontaneous "that was fun."
• During some music last week one of my kids wanted me to dance with them.
• Going forward and receiving communion seems important and to be desired.
• Dipping fingers in the baptismal water to make the sign of the cross is frequently done.
• Lighting a candle, making an offering and praying for someone is requested.
• Art work is popular. Someone made a note on the art room chalk board "Art Room - Yes!"

I'm thinking about more ways we can make church an active, doing experience. Not doing for the sake of doing itself....but as a way to express and engage with things that often remain cerebral and unengaging to kids, and even to many of us adults.

The Bible is Popular

The Sunday School kids are surprisingly (to me) interested in finding Bible references.

We often look up one of the lectionary readings. Then one of the kids will read some or all of the text. (Some of them love the chance to be the reader too.)

Some kids with limited reading ability are even excited to find the right spot in the Bible.

What makes this so engaging for the kids?

Now that I see this much I'll try to make it work better....obvious basics like be sure there's a Bible available for everyone, same translation so they don't get lost following along...and I have a few other ideas that might be fun too.

What a Response!

There were lots of kids in Sunday School today that weren't there last week when I did the Godly Play Good Shepherd presentation. I ended up doing it again.

Wow, what a response. Great responses to some of the wondering questions were coming faster than I could comprehend or acknowledge them.

I have to try to do more of this.