Categories: uncategorized
Date: 19 March 2006 18:23:12
Thanks, folks, for your comments, and thank you, Jan, for the reminder that we who enjoy online community also carry a responsibility. I suppose that James 1:26 could be paraphrased to apply.
And the problem with allowing myself to wax philosophical is that anything I write to-day is going to sound rather dull in comparison. To-day, at last, Sunday morning was not dominated by the need to get Celebrity to her swimming lesson. We did have to make sure that Gardener didn't miss Power Rangers. The concept of an episode lasting less than half an hour "to be continued" is new to him, and he's been counting the days since last Sunday.
Celebrity and I attended church. I found myself helping with Sunday School (or Kidz Klub, or KidZone, or whatever it's called nowadays). I would have preferred to have been in the grown-up service, but what we did was interesting, and it was good that my presence was helpful. I think, though, that the material and the approach (I don't know the source of the material) needs to evolve, and recognise, for example, that looking up bible verses doesn't come naturally to the children of to-day. I'm trying not to be critical. I'm well aware that somebody could turn round and say - well you do it better. Just that, I suppose, we live in a world of multimedia, and maybe need to adopt some of the methods which children already experience.
I accept that story-telling has power, and that the plain simple technique of one person telling a story may hold the attention, and communicate a message better than bombarding people with sounds and images, which may not sound or look much different from what they daily consume in large quantities.
Lunch followed (at Luca's), and then a walk along the prom with Celebrity and Gardener while Beloved visited her mum. The children had their scooters (almost matching, with a Barbie theme, which doesn't seem to bother Gardener too much).
Shame I have to go back to work to-morrow.