Week 1 Paying Attention

One of the humbling things about working with children is that they often pay attention to things that adults miss. This is true of Christian formation. Many children have a wonderful capacity to imagine, experience, and explain God, and they feel a special closeness with God. Adults who are willing to listen to and encourage children's spiritual experiences can learn a lot from them. Parents and teachers have an opportunity and a responsibility to be formed by children and to make space for their spiritual formation.

A routine of sharing moments from the day is one that many families practice. It can also happen in a Sunday School class: one youth leader called it "Happy/crappy" time. It is an opportunity to take everyday events and put them in the context of spirituality: What do you think God is doing? What do you think God wants you to do? Questions like these, repeated over weeks and months and years can help form children who are spiritually alive and aware, and encourages them to act according to God's purpose.

The questions of What made me happiest and What made me saddest today are questions we never outgrow. Although we may change the phrasing a bit, these are questions which can form us throughout our lives. The practice of gratitude for each day is an important part of daily sharing, and another life-long practice of paying attention that can form our spirituality and that of our children.

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