Why I Didn't Like the Parade

Last Monday I posted a picture of Bird's class re-enacting the Palm Sunday parade. After the parade, each class also had the chance to pose with 'Jesus' at the front of the school. The sitter (who took all the pictures since I was at work) thought it was cute & got one of Bug as well.



This is what started pinging my radar. I thought it was odd that we were having our children pose with Jesus. In fact, I've always found that kind of odd, even before we had kids. (This guy has been Jesus for everything at our church for YEARS).

I mean, this was Jesus, not Mickey Mouse. It seemed rather.... disrespectful, for lack of a better word.

Although... since I do have my kids pose with any character we come across at various theme parks, maybe it does really does make sense. Considering our culture today, I bet lots of people would pose for pictures with Jesus. So even though *I* think it's weird, maybe that's not so odd after all.

The more I thought about it, however, the more the parade continued to bug me. When it comes down to it, I think it's misleading to tell the kids this part of the story (and have them act it out) without telling them everything.

Do I want her to know everything at this point? Absolutely not. She knows that some people were angry at Jesus, hurt him, but God made him better and now he's alive again. And that's all she really needs to know at this age.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Palm Sunday celebrates the day Jesus made his final trip to Jerusalem. To celebrate his arrival, many people rushed forward to greet & praise him. They lined the streets with palms so that his feet would not get dirty. They gave him a donkey to ride on for the same reason.

These are the same people who, less than a week later, called for his death in the ugliest way possible - by crucifixion. Mob mentality at its worst.

Now, just to be clear - I do not have issues with children playing dress-up. My kids love to dress up. I think there is a big difference, though, between dressing up like a princess (and a cheerleader, and Mary at Christmas) or dressing up like a future raving lunatic. And really, the issue is not with the kids themselves. Kids love to dress up & act out stories.

But.

I do not let them dress up as scary/mean/ugly (in an angry/hateful way) characters on any given day, so why in the world did I let her dress up as part of that crowd? (To be honest, she didn't really know what was going on anyhow, and it would have made her sad not to dress up, so I let her.)

Like I said before, it's not like I go around telling my preschooler the full graphic details of the entire story. I want her to retain her innocence for some time yet.

Shower Epiphany

A lot of really good or really bizarre thinking happens in my shower. Which makes a lot of sense, honestly. Usually my shower occurs when the kids are either still sleeping or playing with Daddy, so I have a few moments to myself to ponder the hot water & whatever happens to be rolling around in my brain.

Recently I was pondering prayers. I am always in awe of people who talk about how they've been praying for their child's future (be it for their future spouse, for them to be truly wise, whatever...) since the child was born/very little. (These are folks who have children who are nearly full grown or older.)

At the same time, I have found that both to be truly admirable as well as a bit puzzling. Because, really, what is the person hoping for? That the sheer volume of prayers will result in what they want/need? While that sort of dedication is commendable, the thinking seems a bit skewed to me. (Not to mention that there could be other reasons that I haven't even thought of!)

Which is when it occured to me... maybe all that praying is so that God will make YOU the sort of parent you are supposed to be for your children to meet that kind of end. Kind of humbling.

A Lesson From this Sunday

It's very rare that our pastor touches upon "hot button" topics during his sermons. He certainly applies his message to real life, and they are always based on scripture, but he rarely does he get into super-emotionally-and-perhaps-politically-charged issues.


This week, though, he began his series on common beginnings, and part of it centered on the topic of creation - more specifically when the Earth was created. If you are not familiar with this issue, there are 2 main camps: the Earth is around 6000 years old, or the Earth is 13+ billion years old. As with most hot-button-issues, each camp is convinced that they (and they alone) are right, and that the handbasket is coming for the other group. (Yes, I know that is extreme. So are many folks when they are in the throes of hot-button-ness.)


The age of the earth is something that interests me, but I admit to having no passionate drive to making my own clear-cut interpretation. I have read compelling evidence from both camps.


Yet, it's always kind of bothered me that I don't have an opinion either way. What's even more odd is that it doesn't even bother me that I don't have an opinion. Not even a smidgen. Believe me, this is not normal - I have opinons about everything. (Which is certainly a detriment at times.)


My pastor's point, though, was that if you look at the original Hebrew, the author uses a word that could mean 12 hours, 24 hours, or a long-but-unspecified length of time. (apparently they had to double or quadruple up on a LOT on their words!!)


So he felt compelled to further examine the purpose of the author of the book of Genesis. What was the point? The point was that God created the universe & everything in it. It even tells the order of things created. (And apparently, this is almost entirely the same order you will find in most science textbooks as they discuss evolution. But we're not going there today.) HOW he did it.... is left to your interpretation.


His final words.... CS Lewis believed in a "old world"; Billy Graham believes in a "young world."


Suddenly, not having an opinion doesn't seem so bad.