Trust

One Sunday a few years ago I was seated on the floor in a circle of children telling them what we call in our Godly Play room, “The Parable of the Good Shepherd.” It is a beloved story of the Good Shepherd who knows each of his sheep by name and they know his voice. He leads them from the sheepfold to the green grass, cool fresh waters and even goes before them through the hard and dangerous places to show them the way. If even one is lost, he searches for them and carries them safely home again. When the wolf comes, the Good Shepherd comes between the wolf and his sheep to protect them. (See Psalm 23, John 10, Luke 15)

When I ponder the importance of trust in an environment that nurtures a child’s spirit, I remember what the children taught me that particular Sunday. 

“What is the most important part of this story?” I wondered aloud to the group.

“It’s most important that he knows each of his sheep’s names and they know his voice so they follow him,” answered one child.

Lesson 1: We can trust God. Teaching children that they are seen, known and loved by a trustworthy God is foundationally important to them. We can also trust that as we share the stories of our faith our children will gain new insights when they are ready. We trust the process.

“I wonder if you’ve ever heard the voice of the Good Shepherd?” I asked them.

“I hear a voice that tells me to do bad things to my sister,” one child admitted.

“Hmmm…I wonder?” I respond. Silence. 

“Then that is not the voice of the Good Shepherd,” another child admonished. The others in the circle nodded vigorously in agreement. 

Lesson 2: We can trust the children. They have a deep sense of God and the goodness of God. They also have a sense of what is not loving and good. We adults don’t always have to blurt out our answers or response. Often times, if we trust the silence or the space after a question, the children answer wisely.

Moving on, I asked, “I wonder if you’ve ever come close to a hard and dangerous place?”.

“Yes,” said another boy. I found a gun in the empty lot behind my apartment and the police came.”

Lesson 3: We can trust the tradition and the story from scripture, even when the story is difficult for us to understand or ponder. I would have liked to have left the scary parts out of the story, but try as we might we cannot protect our children from the dangers and difficulties of being human. They will walk through valleys and The Good Shepherd goes with them even there. Our stories of faith give us language to talk with children about the hard parts of life. When we pass on these stories we are passing on a language to help our children make meaning of life and faith.

In summary of this series of posts, these are the criteria we may continue to consider as we seek to cultivate an environment in our homes and church which nurtures the spirit of our children:

Space

Process

Imagination

Relationship

Intimacy

Trust

Together, let’s be proactive in creating the conditions for our children’s spirituality to flourish.

With wonder and hope,

Cynthia