Philocrites

The kingdom of heaven is like...

by Philocrites

. . . a Lego castle! Mrs Philocrites helped her congregation of very young children visualize the word "kingdom" this past Sunday using her husband's much-neglected but favorite childhood toy, which usually sits high up on a bookshelf at home gathering dust. Letting her take it to church to show a bunch of 5-year-olds was an act of faith on my part, but the kids were very good and didn't pocket a knight or knock the whole thing to the floor. And now my castle is a parable, too.

(Mrs Philocrites leads the weekly "children's chapel" at the Episcopal church where she directs the children's ministries. The very young children go downstairs with her during the readings and sermon for more age-appropriate stories, songs, and prayers. My favorite children's chapel incident so far — and remember, these are really little kids — was Mr Potatohead as Paul's metaphor of the "body of Christ." The kids really grasped that one right away: "If your nose is running, can you just leave it home?" "No!" "If your eyes are sleepy, can you just put them to bed while you go outside?" "No!" Very clever.)

Copyright © 2004 by Philocrites | Posted 24 February 2004 at 9:13 PM

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