Listening to the Inner Teacher
One of the major components of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is to allow children to guide themselves by listening to the little voice inside them, the inner teacher; God.
I started to wonder how often, in today’s society, we allow children to, not only listen to, but also follow that little voice. Are today’s children given permission to wonder? How much information that children receive did they discover on their own through experiencing materials and the natural world around them? What are acceptable risks and do we allow children to take them in order to learn about themselves and others?
These are all questions that I found myself asking as I went through my training. I started to ask, ”Who owns the spiritual lives of our children?” After much personal reflection over the course of my training and the remainder of the summer, I realized that we, as adults, often don’t encourage children to wonder. We don’t provide the opportunity or the invitation for children to form a personal relationship with Jesus. This is, of course, unintentional. Our lives are busy. Spending an hour watching the ants on the sidewalk just doesn’t fit into the schedule of most families. In addition, we underestimate the child’s capacity for reflection and quiet.
We, ourselves, are products of the industrial education model. Adults have all the information and it is our job to impart that information to the children. This is true for some things. It is also true, however, that the majority of the information that we all possess could have been discovered by watching and manipulation of materials.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd will give our children the opportunity to discover their own spirituality and, as a result, fully own it. As a parent, you will be asking yourself “What are they doing in there?”. I invite you to learn with your child by watching, and most importantly, listening. They will share what they are learning by their actions. There will be a period of adjustment for all. The clergy will begin to notice that there are many sets of eyes watching very intently from the front pews. Parents will notice that their children are participating more fully in the Holy Eucharist by, perhaps, doing the Epiclesis with the priest. The congregation at large will notice that the children are vocal during the service but that now the conversation includes things like “That’s the chalice!”.
God is speaking to our children and they are listening. We have, at last, given them a space to be “still and know I am God”. What a blessing.
Peace in your day,
Letitia
One of the major components of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is to allow children to guide themselves by listening to the little voice inside them, the inner teacher; God.
I started to wonder how often, in today’s society, we allow children to, not only listen to, but also follow that little voice. Are today’s children given permission to wonder? How much information that children receive did they discover on their own through experiencing materials and the natural world around them? What are acceptable risks and do we allow children to take them in order to learn about themselves and others?
These are all questions that I found myself asking as I went through my training. I started to ask, ”Who owns the spiritual lives of our children?” After much personal reflection over the course of my training and the remainder of the summer, I realized that we, as adults, often don’t encourage children to wonder. We don’t provide the opportunity or the invitation for children to form a personal relationship with Jesus. This is, of course, unintentional. Our lives are busy. Spending an hour watching the ants on the sidewalk just doesn’t fit into the schedule of most families. In addition, we underestimate the child’s capacity for reflection and quiet.
We, ourselves, are products of the industrial education model. Adults have all the information and it is our job to impart that information to the children. This is true for some things. It is also true, however, that the majority of the information that we all possess could have been discovered by watching and manipulation of materials.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd will give our children the opportunity to discover their own spirituality and, as a result, fully own it. As a parent, you will be asking yourself “What are they doing in there?”. I invite you to learn with your child by watching, and most importantly, listening. They will share what they are learning by their actions. There will be a period of adjustment for all. The clergy will begin to notice that there are many sets of eyes watching very intently from the front pews. Parents will notice that their children are participating more fully in the Holy Eucharist by, perhaps, doing the Epiclesis with the priest. The congregation at large will notice that the children are vocal during the service but that now the conversation includes things like “That’s the chalice!”.
God is speaking to our children and they are listening. We have, at last, given them a space to be “still and know I am God”. What a blessing.
Peace in your day,
Letitia
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