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.

Math as a Spiritual Matter

If we think of one aspect of spirituality as having to do with making a connection to that which is beyond ourselves, many things have a spiritual dimension.

One of my children began asking about which numbers are real....a gazillion? a billion?....

This led to the child saying that numbers are interesting.....not regular numbers like 1 or 9 or 100, but numbers like 101. It was as if at that point the limits of the imagination were stretched to the point of fascination with that which is known to be there, but which can not quite be known.

It gives me another hint/question about what it might mean to enter the realm of God like a little child.

I got to talking at work about my child's questions. It's led to wonderful conversations. Not religious conversations per se, but conversations that, at least for me (and I can only speak for me) have spiritual impact and theological implications. This is especially gratifying in light of my post related to all the time I spend at work vs with people from church, and the idea it led to that I ought avail myself to connecting more with people at work.


Quite a lot has come from a conversation with a child. Not that I should be surprised, right?

Loaves, Fishes, Breakfast Bars & Jesus Bread

Sunday a child had a cereal bar at church. (Okay, let's be honest....it was one of MY children....and no, I didn't manage to sit them down to eat before church....but I usually do and church was an hour early and...well, you don't need to hear all about it...)

The child with the cereal bar, with adult encouragement, offered some to another child.

As the child with cereal bar broke a piece off and gave it to another child the image reminded me of a celebrant breaking a piece of bread and offering it to a person receiving communion.

But that's not even the most cool part.

When I asked if they knew what it reminded me of when they broke off a piece of the bar and gave it to the other child, an 8 year old piped in and said:

Jesus. Jesus giving people what they need.