At a teacher training event last week, we explored a few ways to work with silence as part of a strategy for teaching students (and the teachers themselves) to care for their souls.
We started with an Quaker-style prayer that began with a short silence (10-15 seconds by my rough mental count) and then finished with a spoken prayer. Several of the teachers there had experienced similar ways to pray, but about half hadn't. For most of the group, the time between "Let's pray" and my beginning to pray out loud was uncomfortable. Even though it was a short period of time, it felt much longer and silent-er.
In classrooms, school teachers are learning to wait to call on a child to answer a question; the first hand up might still be called on first, but not until there are several other hands in the air too. This gives the class more time to puzzle out the answer, and lets children who work at a slower pace become more confident as they realize that being first to answer isn't the goal.
Silence is hard to get. From the alarm clock in the morning to the MP3 player during the rest of the day to the late night shows before bed, we tend to surround ourselves with sound. Even in a church service, most of the time is taken up with words and music; for my highly-ordered Episcopalians, an unexplained silence would be interpreted as a gap (for most of the congregation, anyway) and not a gift.
When Elijah heard God, 1 Kings 19 points out, "The Lord was not in the wind...the earthquake... [or] in the fire." Instead, God made Himself known in a still, small voice. One thing I point out to kids fairly often is that it isn't that when we start listening, God starts speaking; it's that God has been speaking all along, and when we learn to enjoy silence, we can begin to hear Him.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
2.11.2008
2.01.2008
Evidence, please.
I had a fishbowl question the other day at Bible study that's got me started on creating my teaching time for our next game night, in two weeks. The question read:
"(Please don't call me atheist.) Does God exist?"
I respect and admire whichever kid was open and honest enough to put this question in there, and since I tend to tackle basic bits of faith on game nights (when we gather socially for the first hour, then wrap up with our regular teaching time and prayer time) I though I'd put it on the docket for February 13.
The approach I'm taking is that I won't be mathematically or scientifically "proving" God, since science and maths don't actually do that in the first place, and since God is too much of a mystery to nail down with any specific arguments. But I want to be able to present a compelling set of clues, some evidence, that Christians cite when we're involved in this discussion, that leads us to believe in God's reality.
What are some good clues I can present, and/or ways you've presented said clues to groups? Your help is much appreciated!
"(Please don't call me atheist.) Does God exist?"
I respect and admire whichever kid was open and honest enough to put this question in there, and since I tend to tackle basic bits of faith on game nights (when we gather socially for the first hour, then wrap up with our regular teaching time and prayer time) I though I'd put it on the docket for February 13.
The approach I'm taking is that I won't be mathematically or scientifically "proving" God, since science and maths don't actually do that in the first place, and since God is too much of a mystery to nail down with any specific arguments. But I want to be able to present a compelling set of clues, some evidence, that Christians cite when we're involved in this discussion, that leads us to believe in God's reality.
What are some good clues I can present, and/or ways you've presented said clues to groups? Your help is much appreciated!
12.19.2007
My defining moment
My students had started to ask me, a few weeks ago, about what happens to people who don't believe in Jesus when they die. A lot of conversations I've had with students who are having a hard time in their faith lives revolve around, "why would God leave out of heaven all those good people who just decided not to believe the same things we do?"
One of my kids had left a question in the fishbowl that said, "Does God still love you if you do something wrong like decide to go your own way or choose a different religion?" He'd left me a nice out in the way he asked the question, because yes, God's love for people is infinite and the amount of love He has for us isn't affected by the things we do; God is able to differentiate between who we are and what we do. But I had a feeling C wouldn't appreciate me attempting to avoid the real question.
So I asked God about it, and as I was praying the Scripture that came to mind was when Jesus is first teaching about living bread, and the crowd starts to say, "This teaching is too hard. Who can understand it." When Jesus didn't go back and re-explain himself, a lot of the people there went away and didn't follow Him anymore. So Jesus went to the disciples and said, "What about you? Do you also want to leave because of what I'm teaching you?"
Peter stepped up and said, "Lord, who would we follow instead? You have the words that give eternal life. And now we see, and have come to believe that you are the holy one of God."
What the disciples realized, I heard, was that Christianity wasn't just a technique or an add-on to everything else they were doing in life. If you want to take a yoga class or learn computer programming, you might have to rearrange some of the other things you do to make time for it, but you can do those things along with everything else.
The disciples saw that following Jesus was going to be different. This was going to be a new way of life; it was going to replace everything they had done before, just as Jesus, when he invited them in the first place, had replaced their daily jobs with new ones.
I realized that while I've been teaching that Jesus is the way, I've been doing that in a very soft and unemphatic way.
I'm ready now to teach less apologetically and more urgently that when Jesus said, "I am the way to the Father," he meant it.
It was scary to me to realize for how long I've been avoiding answering that question.
One of my kids had left a question in the fishbowl that said, "Does God still love you if you do something wrong like decide to go your own way or choose a different religion?" He'd left me a nice out in the way he asked the question, because yes, God's love for people is infinite and the amount of love He has for us isn't affected by the things we do; God is able to differentiate between who we are and what we do. But I had a feeling C wouldn't appreciate me attempting to avoid the real question.
So I asked God about it, and as I was praying the Scripture that came to mind was when Jesus is first teaching about living bread, and the crowd starts to say, "This teaching is too hard. Who can understand it." When Jesus didn't go back and re-explain himself, a lot of the people there went away and didn't follow Him anymore. So Jesus went to the disciples and said, "What about you? Do you also want to leave because of what I'm teaching you?"
Peter stepped up and said, "Lord, who would we follow instead? You have the words that give eternal life. And now we see, and have come to believe that you are the holy one of God."
What the disciples realized, I heard, was that Christianity wasn't just a technique or an add-on to everything else they were doing in life. If you want to take a yoga class or learn computer programming, you might have to rearrange some of the other things you do to make time for it, but you can do those things along with everything else.
The disciples saw that following Jesus was going to be different. This was going to be a new way of life; it was going to replace everything they had done before, just as Jesus, when he invited them in the first place, had replaced their daily jobs with new ones.
I realized that while I've been teaching that Jesus is the way, I've been doing that in a very soft and unemphatic way.
I'm ready now to teach less apologetically and more urgently that when Jesus said, "I am the way to the Father," he meant it.
It was scary to me to realize for how long I've been avoiding answering that question.
12.07.2007
The Extremes of Wednesday night Bible Study
These two conversations illustrate the lack of middle ground on Wednesday nights; either we really get it or we really don't:
Seventh-grader at dinner: "If I had enough armpit hair, I'd like to braid it!"
His friend: "Hey, yeah! That's a great idea!" (They start looking at their armpits.)
Isaac: (wads up napkin and throws it at them) "I'm throwing a flag on this conversation!"
Sixth-grader, in small group: "So if you're a Christian, is it hard to go to Hell?"
Isaac: (starts laughing) "Yes, C, when you're a believer, it's very hard to go to Hell."
Seventh-grader at dinner: "If I had enough armpit hair, I'd like to braid it!"
His friend: "Hey, yeah! That's a great idea!" (They start looking at their armpits.)
Isaac: (wads up napkin and throws it at them) "I'm throwing a flag on this conversation!"
Sixth-grader, in small group: "So if you're a Christian, is it hard to go to Hell?"
Isaac: (starts laughing) "Yes, C, when you're a believer, it's very hard to go to Hell."
12.04.2007
Need some help on retreat planning
Hey everybody: I'm planning my winter retreat for the high schoolers and need some ideas. God's been nudging me that this group needs to spend the weekend experiencing a whole Gospel, not just a piece of it, so the first session we have together involves some lectio divina work where each person takes a section, reads it mindfully, then summarizes it for the group so we start to see some of the themes. That much has mostly come together. But where else do I go when I'm not focusing all the sessions on one or two stories? How do I help these high schoolers reflect and rest with God's word?
10.01.2007
Bible study on Responsibilities-- used with Confirmation class
Here's a Bible study I did this weekend on the 8th grade lock-in. We used the movie "Night at the Museum" which is a good, fun, mostly clean movie that came out around Christmas in 2006.
What’s Your “Rs?”
Check-In
What’s the first thing your family ever made you responsible for?
What do you know?
What kinds of things do adults “have to” do?
From the Movie
Which characters lived up to their responsibilities? How did they do that?
Which characters did not keep their promises? What happened because of that?
What does the movie teach us about responsibility?
From the Bible
Matthew 28:16-20
In your own words, what’s the church been commanded to do?
How do we do those things here in our church?
Acts 2:42-47
What were the disciples’ responsibilities?
What happened because the disciples kept those habits?
1 Timothy 4:11-16
Timothy was a young person but he had big responsibilities. How can you lead and serve in the church today?
Which of the responsibilities we’ve talked about tonight do you think you most need to pay attention to?
In Our Lives
Write yourself a note encouraging you to be responsible for one of the things we’ve talked about tonight. Seal it in an envelope and write your name (first and last) on the outside. You’ll get that note in the mail sometime during this year.
Closing Prayer
Ask a student in your group to make up a prayer or read this one:
Dear God, you prepared your disciples to receive the Holy Spirit by hearing Jesus’ teaching. Make our hearts and minds ready to receive the Spirit’s blessings too, that we may be full of the strength that Your presence brings. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, adapted, pg. 819)
What’s Your “Rs?”
Check-In
What’s the first thing your family ever made you responsible for?
What do you know?
What kinds of things do adults “have to” do?
From the Movie
Which characters lived up to their responsibilities? How did they do that?
Which characters did not keep their promises? What happened because of that?
What does the movie teach us about responsibility?
From the Bible
Matthew 28:16-20
In your own words, what’s the church been commanded to do?
How do we do those things here in our church?
Acts 2:42-47
What were the disciples’ responsibilities?
What happened because the disciples kept those habits?
1 Timothy 4:11-16
Timothy was a young person but he had big responsibilities. How can you lead and serve in the church today?
Which of the responsibilities we’ve talked about tonight do you think you most need to pay attention to?
In Our Lives
Write yourself a note encouraging you to be responsible for one of the things we’ve talked about tonight. Seal it in an envelope and write your name (first and last) on the outside. You’ll get that note in the mail sometime during this year.
Closing Prayer
Ask a student in your group to make up a prayer or read this one:
Dear God, you prepared your disciples to receive the Holy Spirit by hearing Jesus’ teaching. Make our hearts and minds ready to receive the Spirit’s blessings too, that we may be full of the strength that Your presence brings. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, adapted, pg. 819)
9.24.2007
"Three Important Questions"-- a low-prep Bible study format
One of our church groups that I'd spoken to a while back called me last Monday to ask if I could fill in for the priest who regularly leads their Bible study on Tuesday morning before they have lunch. I had a class on Tuesday so couldn't make it back in time (I did join them for lunch, though) but offered to leave them a format so they could guide themselves through the chapter.
A couple of the questions are borrowed from "No Experience Necessary" which is also an excellent study. When I created the 3Qs format, I wanted it to be adaptable to any Scripture a group decided to study.
Here is the format for your toolbox:
Three Important Questions
Open with a prayer. You can ask a group member to make up a prayer, or use one from the Prayer Book. The prayers begin on page 815. Number 3, #7, #52 and #58 are especially appropriate for Bible study groups.
After the prayer, ask the members of the group to share what they have seen God doing in their lives or the lives of their families since the last time you met. If the group has trouble coming up with examples, remind them to share general blessings like good news they’ve received, continued health, things like that.
Now open the Bible to the passage you’ve chosen to study. You might want to continue one you’ve been reading or pick a favorite.
Read it once all the way through without stopping. The first time you read, you just want to make sure you know what’s happening.
Then read it again. Before you read, ask the group members to imagine themselves being part of the story. They might pick a character and try to see that person’s perspective, or just try and imagine what it would have been like to be present the day the story took place.
Now ask these 3 questions and see how the group responds:
What is God doing in the story?
What is God calling me to do as a response to this story?
What is God calling us (the Bible study group, the congregation, or the whole Church) to do as a response to this story?
If you need additional questions, ask these:
(After question #1)
How does this story give clues to what Jesus is going to do in the end?
Are there any references made to other Bible stories? What was God doing in those times?
Are there situations like this happening in our world today? What is the Church doing to show God’s way to the people involved?
(After question #2)
What’s my first reaction to this story?
If this happened to me, or someone I know, today, what would my advice or help be?
How would I pray for the people in this story?
(After question #3)
What does the church already do that meets the need in the story?
In what way is our church especially good at listening to God’s will for us?
If we could ask God to explain one thing from this story to our church, what would we ask?
Close in prayer.
A couple of the questions are borrowed from "No Experience Necessary" which is also an excellent study. When I created the 3Qs format, I wanted it to be adaptable to any Scripture a group decided to study.
Here is the format for your toolbox:
Three Important Questions
Open with a prayer. You can ask a group member to make up a prayer, or use one from the Prayer Book. The prayers begin on page 815. Number 3, #7, #52 and #58 are especially appropriate for Bible study groups.
After the prayer, ask the members of the group to share what they have seen God doing in their lives or the lives of their families since the last time you met. If the group has trouble coming up with examples, remind them to share general blessings like good news they’ve received, continued health, things like that.
Now open the Bible to the passage you’ve chosen to study. You might want to continue one you’ve been reading or pick a favorite.
Read it once all the way through without stopping. The first time you read, you just want to make sure you know what’s happening.
Then read it again. Before you read, ask the group members to imagine themselves being part of the story. They might pick a character and try to see that person’s perspective, or just try and imagine what it would have been like to be present the day the story took place.
Now ask these 3 questions and see how the group responds:
What is God doing in the story?
What is God calling me to do as a response to this story?
What is God calling us (the Bible study group, the congregation, or the whole Church) to do as a response to this story?
If you need additional questions, ask these:
(After question #1)
How does this story give clues to what Jesus is going to do in the end?
Are there any references made to other Bible stories? What was God doing in those times?
Are there situations like this happening in our world today? What is the Church doing to show God’s way to the people involved?
(After question #2)
What’s my first reaction to this story?
If this happened to me, or someone I know, today, what would my advice or help be?
How would I pray for the people in this story?
(After question #3)
What does the church already do that meets the need in the story?
In what way is our church especially good at listening to God’s will for us?
If we could ask God to explain one thing from this story to our church, what would we ask?
Close in prayer.
9.13.2007
Journaling with high school class
As part of this year's curriculum, I'm working on a journal that goes along with our high school lessons, which are based around topics students have asked questions about, and designed to teach what a Christian approach to those topics is like. The journal is something we haven't done before.
Has anyone had any particular success with journaling, or any notable difficulties, that would give me some idea of what to expect when we start using them? Or any ideas/angles that would be useful to include in the journal. Right now I have weekly sections through each topic, a form for confession, a couple of prayer forms, and a Bible study method in the book.
Has anyone had any particular success with journaling, or any notable difficulties, that would give me some idea of what to expect when we start using them? Or any ideas/angles that would be useful to include in the journal. Right now I have weekly sections through each topic, a form for confession, a couple of prayer forms, and a Bible study method in the book.
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