Sacred Space for Children
This week I invite you to look closer at Rebecca Nye’s SPIRIT acronym which helps us examine closely the environment we create for children that cultivates or detracts from their spiritual lives. We begin with ‘S’ for Space.
My granddaughter was a toddler during the pandemic. As a result, she was four years old when she first entered the nave at Good Shepherd. “Wow! Look at the colors in the windows! They are beautiful!”, she whispered loudly. “I’ve never heard music like this before,” she proclaimed with surprise when the organ began to play.
Evidently her first impression of the space was that it was special and set apart from other places she had experienced. By her whispers and awe I knew that the beauty and sights and sounds spoke to her of something sacred and holy.
Our spaces speak volumes to children. What they notice invites us all to ask questions like:
Is this space carefully prepared? Are the materials and the layout and furnishings quality? If so, then we anticipate something meaningful and worthwhile will happen there.
Is this space accessible to me? Can I see and hear what is going on? Can I move about freely and participate fully? If so, then I know I belong.
Is this a space where people like me are visible and invited to lead? If so, then I know I am valued in this community.
The presence of children among us invites us to consider carefully the language that our space speaks to them and to us. I invite you to enter the various parts of the building of Good Shepherd from the perspective of a child and notice what you notice.
What do these spaces teach the children about God? About them? About their place in our faith community? What aspects of the spaces are nurturing children? What places may be excluding them? What unspoken messages are we sending by the space we share?
I’d love to hear from you about what you notice!
Grace and peace,
Cynthia
