Recently I was attending a school Christmas pagent which took place in a church. I got there and observed the young children excited to be partaking in the even. The kindergardeners recieved their Christmas bells and were jingling happily - until their teacher yelled at them. The pageant was pretty impressive. The little ones seemed on best behavior trying to impress their parents, friends and relatives and, dare I say, their Lord.
As I looked around the older grade students looked less impressed, bored even. It made me think back to my childhood. You see God and the Church were always important to me. Sure there were times I had my doubts, who doesn't? My hope and faith in something better led me through those doubts. Some of my generation didn't make it through this stage. It seems that a majority of people who walk away from the Church do so at the teen age time. I started to think about a reason for this and that led me to this revalation...
SPOILER ALERT.... SMALL CHILDREN NAVIGATE AWAY FROM THIS PAGE NOW...
You see, we raise our children to believe in fantastical things, magical things... and then systematically we pull them all away from them. Is it any wonder that a teen ager who has lost so many magical figures in their lives wonders about God and Jesus? Realistically is the story of the tooth fairy or Easter Bunny or dare I say S.C. that much more fantasic than the story of Christ or the other stories in the Bible? Here we have our children and we yank away these figures in a period of 3 to 4 years and they realize those gifts were not for magical figures they were from parents. Why wouldn't a child of 13 or 14 who has been educated in history, science and other aspects of life be doubtful of a Virgin birth, or rising from the dead for other people's sins?
I am just wondering if we are doing a real disservice to our children by throwing so many different things at them and pulling away many of them as fiction. Let me say this as well, I am a Christian, I believe in a higher power. Do I believe every story in the Bible as completely true? No, I believe that they are stories of wisdom and messages from our ancestors on how to live a good life. I do believe that good people go to Heaven and the way to Heaven lies within those stories. I do believe that other religions have merit as well and many of the stories, while the characters may be different, the message is the same. I wonder if for our future generations sake if we need to get away with making up fictional characters who bring gifts, and just give the gifts anyway and explain that they are given out of love...
Just a thought...
Happy Holidays to all, religious or not, and a prosperous New Year to all
