One of the privileges of my job is the work I get to do with children. While our faith formation program is family based in the home, I still get the perk of teaching First Reconciliation and First Communion classes to 3rd graders.
This year’s class blew me away. This amazing bunch of kids (all 27 of them!) would come to church on Monday afternoons after school for class with me for an hour. Hopefully, they got a snack in their belly before jumping off the bus and zooming over to church!
These sweet kiddos were in school all day with their masks on, only to come to church and have to do the same thing for another hour at the tables in our gathering hall. Not one of them complained. (At least not loud enough for me to hear!) They knew what was expected, and just went with the flow. We adults could take a lesson or two from them: I’ve heard FAR MORE adults complain about wearing face masks than kids, and the kids are guaranteed to be in them for 7-8 hours a day in school.
Beyond their easy acceptance of the mask rule, I was in awe of how well they paid attention. They were just coming off a school day, expected to sit again, and learn about church stuff that can be a challenge to stick with. But they did it! Sure, a few got antsy once in a while, making each other giggle at a table or scrunching their water bottle to hear the cool sound it made when it was empty, but if that’s the worst of my complaints, then it’s been a good day!
Sometimes we shame kids for just being kids. Our expectations of them can be a little ridiculous. Barking at them to sit down, be quiet and pay attention puts everyone on edge. It’s much easier to say, “That empty water bottle made such a goofy sound, but can you put it in recycling now and then come back to your seat and read for us?” It also gets a much more positive result.
Kids have so much to teach us, and I think we forget that. We’re the adults with all the life experience, and so our tendency can be to constantly impart our wisdom on them.
Once in a while, if we stop talking and listen to the 9 year olds, they can make us stop and think.
This particular group of kids made me think A LOT. And I will be forever grateful.
When a 9 year old says, “So Mrs. Conrad, if God created all of us, then who created God?”, you lift your jaw up from the ground, say a prayer to the Holy Spirit for guidance, and get the discussion going. They can always catch up on any reading at home that we didn’t get to in class, but when they ask questions like that, THAT’S what you go with!! That’s the stuff that REALLY matters. Seeing their minds at work and their hands shooting up in the air to ask questions is just a little bit thrilling.
“Mrs. Conrad, I know God says I’m supposed to forgive everyone, but what if they never apologize and just keep bullying me at school?” Hmmm….I don’t want to teach this kid that he should be a doormat, so I ask if he’s told his parents and teacher (which he did) , and then we start talking about what the other kid’s home life might be like. A lesson in empathy.
“Mrs. Conrad, how does the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus?” They don’t want to just know that it DOES, they want the specifics: how, why, when….you name it!
I think what really struck me the most about this class is that they LOVED asking questions. They were comfortable with it and excited by it. It was okay TO NOT KNOW things and wonder at the possibilities.
When do we outgrow that and feel like we have to have all the answers instead?
I don’t think God’s ultimate plan is for us to have all the answers. I think God wants us to keep asking questions, keep wondering out loud, and keep growing our faith as big as can be.
These kids are well on their way.
How lucky was I to be part of that journey?
I'm sure the kids felt just as lucky to have you there as you did to have them. You were all blessed!!