Overhearing Godly Play: The Ark and the Tent

November 16, 2014: Lesson 7  - The Ark and The Tent
In this week’s Godly Play lesson, the stories of Moses’ experiences with God continue through the telling of creation of the Tabernacle. The overarching theme is one of developing a holy, sacred space in which to meet God.

The actual biblical text reads like a massively detailed shopping list, delivered to the Israelites as a blueprint for creating the sacred space of the Tabernacle. They need to prepare it exactly as indicated or God will not be with them. I can almost hear the frantic back-and-forth among the Israelites: “I forgot the red dyed tanned ram’s skins – can we do without?” or, “I could only find yellow linen! Does it HAVE to be blue?”. No pressure. It’s only going to mean the difference between pleasing God and being his chosen people and the alternative. Gulp.

Oddly enough, it reminds me of how we sometimes approach Thanksgiving. We have expectations about what should be prepared, how and in what order. And what happens when things don’t go exactly as planned? The turkey takes longer than it should. The mashed potatoes get cold waiting for the turkey to finish. The pie doesn’t set up correctly. It can feel like a disaster as we get lost in the details, losing the thread of what’s really important: Being present with one another, attending to the sacred and holy in our ordinary lives and finding a space in which to honor God and each other.

I need to remember this Godly Play lesson as my family and I begin our Thanksgiving celebration next week. God very well may be in the details, and the effort given to the details may be a way to honor God. But in the end, creating that sacred space in our hearts and minds, in spite of the details, is what I think really pleases God, and each other.
I hope you all will feel encouraged to sit in on Godly Play from time to time and hear what St. Paul's budding theologians are coming up with!

 
Godly Play is a creative approach to Christian formation of children, and an important part of our family programming. Overhearing Godly Play is a blog series by Robin Taylor that puts Godly Play in a context we all can relate to. Robin is a member of St. Paul's Cathedral, and a contributor to various cathedral activities. She particularly enjoys learning more about Faith and God from a child's perspective.

Overhearing Godly Play: The Exodus

November 2, 2014: Lesson 5 - The Exodus

In this week’s Godly Play lesson, the story of the Exodus gave us another way of understanding how God’s people experience His elusive presence, and how we continue to use ancient biblical stories to sustain us when we feel lost or far from God.

The story includes difficult imagery: the People of God suffering from famine in Canaan, enslavement at the hands Pharaoh, death of eldest sons. Danger, fear, oppression and death are heavy topics for any of us, let alone the youngest among us. But during the “Wondering” segment of the lesson, a truly remarkable thing happened: The kids were able to see past the scary and intense images of the Exodus and reflect on the heart of the story – our ability to listen for and hear God’s voice even when it seems like it’s not there.

There is a passage in the storytelling narrative that is suggestive of Moses’ conversation with God and his resultant ability to part the Red Sea. It reads, “God came so close to Moses, and Moses came so close to God that he knew how to take the people through the water into freedom”. When asked, “I wonder what part of the story you liked best?” one child said, “When he parted the water. Because God is above us, God is below us, God is inside of us and God is outside of us. He’s all around us”. To that, a younger learner responded, “But you can’t see God!”. Others jumped in, adding that the People of God were our ancestors, and because of that, everything that happened to them, by default, happened to us. This fantastic theological discussion about understanding God in our midst started among children ages 4-7! Awesome! I felt so privileged to be part of that wondering, and to hear those voices bouncing ideas off each other about God’s eternal presence in our lives.

I hope you all will feel encouraged to sit in on Godly Play from time to time and hear what St. Paul's budding theologians are coming up with!

 
Godly Play is a creative approach to Christian formation of children, and an important part of our family programming. Overhearing Godly Play is a blog series by Robin Taylor that puts Godly Play in a context we all can relate to. Robin is a member of St. Paul's Cathedral, and a contributor to various cathedral activities. She particularly enjoys learning more about Faith and God from a child's perspective.

Overhearing Godly Play: the Flood and the Ark

Godly Play is a creative approach to Christian formation of children, and an important part of our family programming. Overhearing Godly Play is a new blog series by Robin Taylor that will put Godly Play in a context we all can relate to. Robin is a member of St. Paul's Cathedral, and a contributor to various cathedral activities. She particularly enjoys learning more about Faith and God from a child's perspective.


October 19, 2014: Lesson 3

In this week’s Godly Play lesson, the focus was God’s promise to Noah, to God’s family and to us, through the telling of the Flood and the Ark. We all know the story: People were going off the rails, God sent a message to Noah, Noah built the ark, the animals came, and then the rain started. And it didn’t stop for a very long time. I wonder how fearful and anxious Noah, his family and the animals must have been. What it must have been like for Noah to act on faith in the face of such overwhelming news. Faith that the rain would come, faith that the ark would hold, faith that its inhabitants would be safe, faith that the rain would eventually stop, faith that life would somehow go on.

What does this story say to us, as we face all the threats, real or perceived, in modern life that make us fearful and anxious? Virulent Ebola definitely freaks me out. The evil of ISIS makes my blood run cold. The pervasive California drought worries me for us now and in the future. But what if we are moved by faith instead of fear in the face of these threats? How does that change our behaviors and reactions, and thereby change the entire narrative?

Through the process of reflecting on this lesson with my 4 year old, he told me about the rainbow that appeared to Noah after the rain stopped. He told me it was God’s message that the rains had stopped and that it would never rain like that again. Then he said, “And that’s FOR REAL, Mommy. For Real”. Indeed, it is for real. It’s for real that God finds ways of washing us clean so that we may start over. And that faith is the bit that gets us through the really rainy times.

And speaking of water…as Dean Penny launches the 2015 Stewardship campaign – Living Water – I hope everyone can find a time that works in your schedules to attend, hear new ideas about where we are going at St. Paul’s and share your thoughts as well!

Overhearing Godly Play: The Holy Family

Did you visit the Godly Play room at Sunday's forum? Godly Play is a creative approach to Christian formation of children, and an important part of our family programming. Overhearing Godly Play is a new blog series by Robin Taylor that will put Godly Play in a context we all can relate to. Robin is a member of St. Paul's Cathedral, and a contributor to various cathedral activities. She particularly enjoys learning more about Faith and God from a child's perspective.

Godly Play Lesson 9/28 - The Holy Family

The focus of today's Godly Play lesson was the Holy Family. The curriculum uses the Nativity set (Mary, Joseph, Christ child, shepherd, sheep, donkey, three kings) throughout the year as a way of introducing the central tenant of our faith as Christians: Birth-Death-Rebirth. We introduced the Holy Family today as a way to begin the new church-school year, and set the tone for the mysteries we have yet to explore.

I had the privilege of being the storyteller for this lesson and observed first hand the creative, dynamic minds we have represented in our GP kids. They were prompted with a few different "wondering" questions. The first, "I wonder what part of the Holy Family you like best" elicited such great responses. Some said the donkey, for its hard work in bringing Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Others said the shepherds because they were the first to hear the news of Jesus's birth.

The second question, "I wonder if you have ever seen the Holy Family in our church", was a bit less inspiring for the kids, but that's ok too. Because it got me thinking about the multiple ways you can interpret that question. Literally or figuratively, concretely or metaphorically. I asked myself if we aren't all part of THE Holy Family (as members of the Christian church in general and St. Paul's in particular), and simultaneously members of our own individual Holy Families. And all of these Families are just as motley a crew as that first Holy Family - with neighbors, tradesmen, wise people, parents, kids and animal friends all contributing to the whole, and helping each other better understand the mind-blowing truth of Birth-Death-Rebirth in our lives.

Family Service!

You should be sure to come to the monthly family service some time-- lots of music, singing and dancing, Godly play, home made bread, and space for kids to be, well, kids!  Here are a few photographs from last night's service.

Here's a slideshow for the whole set, or  go to this link.  And you can download high res photos here