easter 2015

If yesterday's post , with the video tour of a "real" Godly Play room, or Sheila's recent post about spacious children's worship areas in Texas left you frustrated or discouraged - I hope this will undo that. Many of us have to "make do" with a space that feels less than ideal. But it's ok to do the best we can! The minimum I would want is this: The space that is clearly a prepared space. It has been made special. It is both special ("set apart", even temporarily) and welcoming ( for us) . So if your circle will be made up of children, this should be a space which is set up with children in mind. There is a "threshold" of some sort, so that it is easy to tell the difference between IN the space and OUTSIDE the space. In the space there is a focal shelf , as well as materials for response and for cleaning up. Everything is displayed in an inviting manner (in open baskets, on low shelves if children are present) but also with car...

Remember Sheila's post about her children's first visit to a Godly Play room ? Here's a beautiful video tour of a one classroom in Australia. Isn't that a gift, to show us their room? But perhaps like me you found it simultaneously frustrating. Did your fingers get itchy? I wanted to open that brown box on the Christmas shelf! (I'm guessing it contains "gold", incense, and myrrh.)

I happened to pick up a little booklet we have, called A Pocket Guide to the Anglican Church , and noticed for the first time the section on liturgical colors. I like the use of the verb "wears" here: ---- The red, green and amber of traffic lights control the flow of traffic because motorists understand what these colours mean. Similarly the green/yellow, brown and blue wires in an electric cable indicate which wire is earth, live and neutral.  The Church has used colours since the 12th Century to tell the faithful the sort of mood she is in. There are four principal colours, viz violet, white, red and green. underlays for the Holy Family on the focal shelf When the Church wears : Violet she is in a solemn mood. Violet is the colour of penitence and is used particularly for the seasons of Advent (the four weeks before Christmas), and Lent (the forty days before Easter). White she is in a happy and festive mood. Red she is commemorating the death of someone who shed his [o...

Thanks to Godly Play Australia on Facebook, I came across a blog post by Yvonne Morris, asking: ...in our Sunday schools why do adults most often ask questions about facts and figures and places and information? Are there better questions to ask that will give us and our children that wide-eyed wonder when they connect their story with God�s story...? She offers some examples of questions we might ask, admitting a strong Godly Play influence on her choices! And then she tells a lovely story. It begins like this, Can I join you?� I asked the boy quite prepared for him to say �No� but he nodded, so I sprawled near him on the blue blanket. He looked at the toy boat for a few moments. �I wonder what story this is� I say. �Mmmmm, I fink it�s the one where Jesus is asleep in the boat� he replied... Click here to read the rest.

I am still wondering about the Parable of the Great Pearl (aka the Pearl of Great Price). I wonder how you'd feel about someone spending his grocery money - or rent money - on illegal drugs... ... or designer clothes...  ... or gold jewelry.  I wonder if you watched  the video I linked to here , and how you responded to it. I wonder how you'd feel about someone giving her life savings to a televangelist?  I wonder how that's different - * is*  it different? - from the story in Mark 12:41-44. I wonder how much God really expects us to give.  I wonder  what  God really expects us to give.  I wonder what it is that we get in return.  " Pearls being removed from oysters " by Keith Pomakis I wonder if we  are   supposed to identify with the merchant (in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price) or not.  If not, I wonder who the merchant could really be.

Warning: spoilers ahead. If you haven't had the Parable of the Great Pearl presented to you by a Godly Play storyteller, and you think you might get that chance - stop reading. photo, used by permission, from Explore and Express If you already know the lesson, and would like to read about my experiences with it, carry on.  I think the Parable of the Great Pearl is one of the loveliest and most surprising of the Godly Play lessons. The Montessori principle is to Show rather than Tell , and this is a lesson of few words (Matthew 13:45-46) and many silent actions. First, the merchant searches for the Great Pearl. He enters even the empty houses in hopes of finding a pearl. He examines closely and carefully every pearl he finds, usually discovering, regretfully, that it is not the one he seeks. Upon finally discovering the Great Pearl, he sets about negotiating and bartering for it. He carries money (several bags of coins) across, but clearly his savings are not enough. He begins...