The Quadrilateral and Kids, Part 1 of 4
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4.6 [NRSV]
Robert Coles, author of the award winning The Spiritual Life of Children, spent several years talking to and asking children of all ages about God. In the conversations he came to a point where he asked children to “draw a picture of how you would represent God”, and the response from so many children was that God is “beyond”. They found it difficult to draw God, but found it much easier to draw those things or people who “represent” the characteristics of their understanding of God. We see through the response of so many of these children that the importance is not how God looks, but how God is communicated to them. One way to look at this with children of all ages is through our own Wesleyan heritage.
Scripture – Children love stories.
The primary way that we teach children about God is by telling our story which comes out of the Bible. We are a people of the story, and we possess a specific type of language. Take time to not only read scripture to and with children, but give them the opportunity to talk with you about their understanding of what they hear and read. Be open to their thoughts and responses.
Resources:
At Home With God Family Devotions for the School Year
by Ann Broyles, Sue Downing, Paul Escamilla, Elizabeth Lind Escamilla, and Marilyn Brown Oden [Upper Room Books, 2002]
United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center by Scott J. Jones [Abingdon Press]
The Spiritual Life of Children by Robert Coles [Houghton Mifflin, 1990]
Speaking of Faith, hosted by Melissa Tippett, Conversation with Dr. Robert Coles “The Inner Lives of Children”, re-released on NPR January 1, 2009.
