the essential spiritual lessons that we teach children
Today at Summer Bible Camp we learned that if God brought back the dinosaurs we'd all get squashed by plant-eaters.
It was the highlight of the week so far, really. I'm not actually teaching the kids, just herding them from crafts to games to music to "synagogue," where a parent pretending to be a rabbi from ancient Israel tells them Bible stories and I move about from kid to kid, trying to keep Tommy from swallowing a plastic bag and Joshua from hitting Andrew over the head with a Bible and trying to soothe Terrence when he starts sobbing because he spilled some water (but really just misses his mommy). It's excellent that I'm not supposed to be reinforcing the lessons or anything, because I have no idea what our "rabbi" is telling these kids - I'm too busy trying to get them to pay some semblance of attention to him. Today, though, he got their rapt attention once Daniel raised his hand in the middle of the story of Lazarus and asked "If God can heal anyone, can He bring back the dinosaurs?"
Rabbi Colin blinked, and considered the question. "Well, He can do anything, Daniel, but dinosaurs have already had their time. Now we've got people living everywhere, and I don't think dinosaurs and people could live together very well, do you?"
Instantly every hand in the class was raised. We had a prolonged conversation about what might happen if a T. Rex decided to eat the class, and listed all the other dinosaurs that might decide to eat us until Matthew raised his hand and pointed out that God could bring back the plant-eaters, and they wouldn't eat us. We agreed that they might eat our gardens, though, and that if we weren't careful they might step on us and squash us.
Five-year-olds are not the best kids to teach deep spiritual lessons to, and I've always considered the most important lesson of preschool Sunday School classes simply to be that God's House is a fun and loving place. This week, trying to supervise the largest and most rambunctious class in our Summer Bible Camp, I've just been trying to keep any of the kids from getting hurt. It's good to know, though, that today I helped teach an incredible, possibly life-saving lesson to these kids. Who knows? Together, Rabbi Colin and I may have averted some future Jurassic Park-like catastrophe.
And here I thought Summer Bible Camp was little more than a glorified daycare.
It was the highlight of the week so far, really. I'm not actually teaching the kids, just herding them from crafts to games to music to "synagogue," where a parent pretending to be a rabbi from ancient Israel tells them Bible stories and I move about from kid to kid, trying to keep Tommy from swallowing a plastic bag and Joshua from hitting Andrew over the head with a Bible and trying to soothe Terrence when he starts sobbing because he spilled some water (but really just misses his mommy). It's excellent that I'm not supposed to be reinforcing the lessons or anything, because I have no idea what our "rabbi" is telling these kids - I'm too busy trying to get them to pay some semblance of attention to him. Today, though, he got their rapt attention once Daniel raised his hand in the middle of the story of Lazarus and asked "If God can heal anyone, can He bring back the dinosaurs?"
Rabbi Colin blinked, and considered the question. "Well, He can do anything, Daniel, but dinosaurs have already had their time. Now we've got people living everywhere, and I don't think dinosaurs and people could live together very well, do you?"
Instantly every hand in the class was raised. We had a prolonged conversation about what might happen if a T. Rex decided to eat the class, and listed all the other dinosaurs that might decide to eat us until Matthew raised his hand and pointed out that God could bring back the plant-eaters, and they wouldn't eat us. We agreed that they might eat our gardens, though, and that if we weren't careful they might step on us and squash us.
Five-year-olds are not the best kids to teach deep spiritual lessons to, and I've always considered the most important lesson of preschool Sunday School classes simply to be that God's House is a fun and loving place. This week, trying to supervise the largest and most rambunctious class in our Summer Bible Camp, I've just been trying to keep any of the kids from getting hurt. It's good to know, though, that today I helped teach an incredible, possibly life-saving lesson to these kids. Who knows? Together, Rabbi Colin and I may have averted some future Jurassic Park-like catastrophe.
And here I thought Summer Bible Camp was little more than a glorified daycare.