Yoblog – Musings of a Church Youth Officer

A friend of mine says there are three things to consider before saying something out loud.

Is it True,

Necessary,

or Kind?

If it is less than two of the three, it’s better to keep quiet.

I’ve played my cards right this week and rolled from my Pampered Chef party on Wednesday, to a baked potato party last night, then a Christening party today.  And the pancake party is on the horizon for Tuesday…

Life in the church round here centres on food.  What a hardship!

My son was given a story book of Noah’s Ark at Christmas – “All Afloat on Noah’s Boat”.  It is a lovely book to read with fun pictures and great rhyming.

But what really puzzles it about me is that the story has been totally secularised with no mention of God.  Nobody told Noah to build the ark, he just did.  There is no dove.  And at the end, there is a rainbow in the picture, but no mention of it in the text.  There are toy Arks aplenty in the shops to support the story and are often suggested as baptism presents.

I wonder how many children hear the story or play with the toy without ever hearing a biblical version?

I had a Sunday Club of all boys yesterday and nearly required a lie down in a darkened room afterwards!

Having got the rotas not quite perfect this month,  I had to lead the group with my 2 year old clamped around my neck.  So the guitar playing had to be abandoned, although fortunately I had some backing tracks on the laptop for a bit of singing.

“Anybody heard a story about a leper before?” I asked. It took me  a second or two to understand the response of   “No, but I saw one at the zoo last time”.

I’d been hoping to get some decent video interviews with the kids for use in my synod presentation, but as I let the older boys loose on the camera, I’ve yet to see what is salvageable (even for comedy value!).  And yes, I have a permission form all signed!

I was along at the Provincial Child Protection training day today in Edinburgh. One of the joys of having it at St John’s, Princes Street, is the opportunity to meander back to the train via some of the few remaining shops that have not gone bankrupt or have turned over to tartan tat.  I was not the only one with such ideas as at least half of the attendees were from other Dioceses and on a ‘big day out’!

Most amusing were the men (especially first thing this morning) out on their sheepish missions to get hold of some Valentine’s Day flowers for their beloved.  Angst, confusion, embarassment could all be seen as well as the cheapskates searching for the bargains which were not to be had.  It didn’t look like ‘romance’ to me!

Perhaps I am not textbook  romantic. 

Did I get flowers today?  Well, I did, but just by chance and from a neighbour as a thank you for a favour done. 

That’s good enough for me.

I read on the train this morning that “Good Bye” is a contraction of “God be with you”.

I didn’t know that.  There must be so much more that I don’t know!!

Children can have a wonderful capacity to accept and understand things.

After the service yesterday, we came home for lunch and then my husband and son (age 4)  nipped backed to church to fix the coat hooks that had fallen off the wall.

While we were having lunch, unbeknown to us, the undertakers had been and brought in a coffin ready for the funeral today.

So when they came back from church the first thing I got was “Mummy, mummy there was a box in the church with somebody inside it”.

Think quickly, Morag…!

And since then we have had lots of questions about death and what happens.  Although the questions are not always easy to answer, I’m doing my best to be honest and not patronising.

Sometimes I think adults should not be scared to ask the same questions.