Teaching our children is a blessing and humbling experience.

Teaching our children is a blessing and humbling experience.

Planning and presenting the lessons for the youth of our center is a powerful and humbling experience. Each week, children from infancy to 12, come for an hour of their precious weekend to learn about God, affirmations, prayer, universal laws and all the reasons why they can and do use them. They come for connection, inspiration and because they know they are important to our extended spiritual family. Well, I like to think that is why they are coming. And some are! In reality, I know some are dragged by their parent– “you will learn to be spiritual”, some are coming for the promise of the donut after the service, and some are coming to see their friends and maybe get a chance to speak into the microphone on the platform. Whatever their reason, I and our teaching team, are ready to receive them with discussions, activities, spiritual practices, crafts and most importantly our love and to listen. We listen to the stories; the desires of the heart of a four year old who wants to play with the trains and the ten year old who wants to fit in at school. We take that lesson that we have spent hours on and adapt, tweak and shift it up to meet the needs and desires of the kids who have shown up. I often wonder if the kids show up because of the lesson that has been created in Mind, or does the lesson show up for the kids. Of course, it is both. Sometimes, as I am planning a lesson, a particular child will be on my mind and I am never surprised to see them, but I am always left with the humbling thought that they are responding to the same inspiration that I am. That we have connected at deeper place that brought us to share this lesson.

This week we have been planning our Palm Sunday lesson. For more than ten years this has been my favorite lesson. I know it has been at least ten years because my children who are now young adults participated as children in this lesson with me. The lesson, has evolved and grown over the years.  I can’t remember how it started that we re-enact the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Like so many inspirations it is timeless and continues to give year after year. In this lesson, together we create the road lined with flowers, covered with palms and beautiful fabric that symbolizes the cloaks of the people.  We ask, What must that have been like to have the road lined with people who adore you? Singing your praises and laying down palms and cloaks for you to walk upon. The only similarity in our lives is when the winning team of the World Series returns home and gets a parade of adoring fans. Is that as close as we can get I wonder.  I wonder if those athletes who are being greeted by adoring fans realize the magnitude of their words and their actions. Surely this is a great moment in life.  Knowing who we are matters, what we think, say and do makes a difference. This is our Palm Sunday lesson As we re-enact the event from two thousand years ago we recognize that the great teacher Jesus owned his power. He owned it with all of his being. He didn’t say well sometimes I’m pretty good like if I’m with good friends and if the stars and moons are aligned I can do great things. He owned it all the time. So we learn to own our power, to share our gifts, our talents with the awareness that we glorify God by shining our light.  And, here is the great part of our lesson: Jesus knew that the same divine potential that he owned so completely in himself was and is in every person. In this lesson we explore what it is to have the courage of Jesus to let our light shine, be great in all that we do and the awesome humility of knowing that that great light is God and is everyone. Not just some, not just a few special ones, but everyone. We learn to let our light shine with courage and to recognize that light in ourselves and everyone around us as the light of God.

Like I said, creating and presenting the youth lessons at our center is an awesome experience. I know that what I am doing is making a difference. I know that the children I am sharing these lessons with are making a profound difference in my life. Finally, I am blessed in knowing that our spiritual community is a place to learn about Life, about Love, and about the awesome Power that each of us has.