Euphemia's Religous Education - Creed Part Two
"And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made."
We began the instruction by asking Euphemia what she remembers from the last period of instruction. She did a good job of re-calling the highlights. We then recited the lesson text for this segment. As soon as I finished she looked at me and said “Jesus is the baby … God born before all time.” Of course I said yes. She was making reference to our reading at Christmas of the complete First Nativity Kontakion of Saint Romanos.
Next we tackled the notion of essence and relationship Father to Son etc. This can be a difficult concept to explain to a five year old in a way that they can truly understand. In this regard I stepped outside of the normal Orthodox Christian tradition and instead used material from my study of Ubuntu highlighted in the Zulu language phrase "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu”.
http://justinian565.livejournal.com/82413.html
This proved to be an excellent tool for conveying both the relationship of the Trinity, the relationship of God incarnate, and the notion of single essence.
I used myself as the epicenter. I stated that I was her Dada, Mutti’s Husband, and Grandpa LeRoy’s Son. I am of one essence but I have three separate relationships. Her reply was … “I am your daughter, Octavia’s sister, and Harleen’s Friend … I am the same essence but different relationships.” I replied in the affirmative and then explained how God is one essence but three relationships (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) we also then carried that forward to the incarnation as Jesus has the relationship with the Trinity as he is of their common essence but he also shares the essence of us humans … us people and so he has entered in to that relationship with us like she has with her own parents, her sister, and her friends. This lead to a discussion about we as people having the image of God and why we refrain from certain actions and words out of respect for that .
It served as a way to both foreshadow the next segment and recall the previous segment focusing on creation and relationship.
I think that this was a pretty good way to walk down the path of Trinitarian Theology for a five year old in a way that she can understand and actually use.
We began the instruction by asking Euphemia what she remembers from the last period of instruction. She did a good job of re-calling the highlights. We then recited the lesson text for this segment. As soon as I finished she looked at me and said “Jesus is the baby … God born before all time.” Of course I said yes. She was making reference to our reading at Christmas of the complete First Nativity Kontakion of Saint Romanos.
Next we tackled the notion of essence and relationship Father to Son etc. This can be a difficult concept to explain to a five year old in a way that they can truly understand. In this regard I stepped outside of the normal Orthodox Christian tradition and instead used material from my study of Ubuntu highlighted in the Zulu language phrase "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu”.
http://justinian565.livejournal.com/82413.html
This proved to be an excellent tool for conveying both the relationship of the Trinity, the relationship of God incarnate, and the notion of single essence.
I used myself as the epicenter. I stated that I was her Dada, Mutti’s Husband, and Grandpa LeRoy’s Son. I am of one essence but I have three separate relationships. Her reply was … “I am your daughter, Octavia’s sister, and Harleen’s Friend … I am the same essence but different relationships.” I replied in the affirmative and then explained how God is one essence but three relationships (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) we also then carried that forward to the incarnation as Jesus has the relationship with the Trinity as he is of their common essence but he also shares the essence of us humans … us people and so he has entered in to that relationship with us like she has with her own parents, her sister, and her friends. This lead to a discussion about we as people having the image of God and why we refrain from certain actions and words out of respect for that .
It served as a way to both foreshadow the next segment and recall the previous segment focusing on creation and relationship.
I think that this was a pretty good way to walk down the path of Trinitarian Theology for a five year old in a way that she can understand and actually use.