Skip to content

Tag: Sunday

#SOL24-4 Children’s Time

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

As soon the.children stream down the aisle in pursuit of the altar, I break into smiles. Each Sunday service includes a children’s time, where the children sit and talk with the pastor for a few minutes. They are invariably all over the place, full of energy and joy. The mood is conversational, with lots of back-and-forth between the pastor and the children. It takes a lot of skill, I think, to ‘herd cats’ in this way – to share an engaging spiritual reflection for the children to digest, while inviting their questions, and moving the lesson along efficiently. All the while, the pastor is balancing the children’s wiggles and moods and unexpected tangents. I am awed by his patience; he seems to truly enjoy the children, and never seems to mind their time together going a bit sideways. 

Today, I am still smiling from a simple misunderstanding by one young child, and can’t help thinking her confusion makes a good message all on its own. I wrote a poem to share the story:

Isaiah 61:1

on Sunday
a child
misheard
the reading
and asked
bewilderedly
insistently
understandably
perplexed
why but why why why
has the spirit of the Lord
annoyed me?

brilliant
forthright
out of the mouths of babes

are we
bringing good news to the poor?
the brokenhearted?
the prisoners?

perhaps
to be anointed
we need to be more
annoyed

truth to power
rise up
Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.