Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Dear God and Amen
The practice of informal, spontaneous prayer contributes to an integrated spirituality in children in which they begin to perceive that all of life connects with transcendent realities; prayer is not compartmentalized but available and appropriate in everyday life needs and situations
~Mara Lief Crabtree, Nurturing Children's Spirituality, p. 90
When in history did our "Dear God" & "Amen" bookends become a part of our prayer life? More importantly, how did prayer become an aspect of religious life that is confined to the church walls and the dinner table? I admit that the type of prayer described above is very difficult. It wasn't until I was required to read The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence that I really began to see prayer as a conversation instead of a monologue. I have read much about the "Just a Little Talk with Jesus" ways of praying. It should be so natural that your speech sounds no different in prayer than it does when you call up a friend. I like this. Especially as my daughter begins to talk, which she does nonstop unless she is asleep or eating, I think about ways that I can help her make prayer her primary speech. How can I get her to see that everything she does can be shared with God. I am certainly not good at it myself and it is hard to branch out beyond praying for ambulances and firetrucks as they pass by to praising him for wiggly bugs and chances to share toys.
As Miriam and I learn to pray together, I hope that she can become as comfortable and excited telling God about the pizza made of sand as she digs in the backyard sandbox as she is with me. As Miriam develops her own prayer language, I learn from her. She listens to her heart and knows when God's voice is louder than all the others.
God, thank you for the informal and spontaneous moments when we are called to share our lives with you.
~JK
Monday, July 20, 2009
Change in Communion?
I just started reading a new book, Nurturing Children's Spirituality: Christian Perspectives and Best Practices. At the close of the first chapter, the editor retells a story of a two year old girl, Elizabeth, who is "playing" communion in her bedroom. Elizabeth, a catholic, has a cup for the wine and small white disk representing the bread. The mom asks the her if she was hoping to change the small white disk into Jesus (catholic theology of transubstantiation - bread becomes actual body of Christ). The little girl replied, "Oh no, I change Wizbef {Elizabeth) into Jesus."
We meet each week to share in the communion with one another and with our Lord. While I do not believe the bread becomes actual body and wine becomes actual blood, I do believe the emblems represent Christ and his sacrifice. Sadly, we often put much more emphasis on how the bread represents Christ than on how WE represent Christ. I think it is important to focus on Christ's sacrifice each time we take the Lord's supper. Thanks to Elizabeth, I may start focusing on how sharing in the communion changes me to be more like Jesus.
~JK
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