two parables, in two programs

Another thing that we did today, at Level 1 training for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, was to see and hear two Parables of the Kingdom - the Precious Pearl and the Mustard Seed.

(CGS Pearl materials)

Godly Play presents these same parables, but very differently. My very first reaction was that I preferred the CGS version of the Mustard Seed, but the GP version of the Great Pearl.

CGS won the Mustard Seed hands-down by letting us look at, touch, even taste a real mustard seed. It was a particular variety found in Israel - which might well be the one Jesus was talking about. These seeds were MUCH smaller (or rather, much smaller) than the ones I grew up with.

That black dot on her middle finger - that's a mustard seed!

GP and CGS differ, in the Pearl parable, in how they interpret the phrase, all that he had. (I've written about this before, saying Normally I think we understand the merchant to have sold "everything he could spare". The version of this parable found in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas has him selling all his merchandise for the pearl. But in Matthew 13 the words are "everything he had", and the Godly Play presentation encourages us to wonder about that wording.)

(GP Pearl materials)

In other respects, though, GP remains noncommittal about how the parable is to be interpreted. CGS, on the other hand, takes it for granted that the pearl represents the Kingdom of God. The catechist may choose whether or not to emphasize that, but it's very different from the Godly Play situation in which the storyteller asks questions like, I wonder what the pearl could really be? I wonder who the merchant could really be? I wonder where all of this might really be? If you believe the pearl is the Kingdom, that's fine, but if you believe that actually Jesus is the merchant and the pearl of great price is the hundredth (lost) sheep, that's also acceptable.

It strikes me as very "Montessori" to let children interpret parables for themselves, as indeed the Gospel reader has to do!



UPDATE: In our discussion the following day one participant noted that the parable does not say the Kingdom is like the pearl, but like this story or this situation. The trainer said that children in CGS will, over time, begin to wonder about other interpretations. I wonder if *I* am the pearl? ... Maybe the pearl is the Eucharist... and she emphasized that that was good! But the doctrinal statement we were given for this lesson took it as a given (presupposition) that the pearl was the Kingdom, so in that sense I think I can stand by this post as written... for now at least.

sneaking in some Godly Play

How long did you think it would be before I'd find a venue for presenting Godly Play again?

As part of my ministry training, I had to preach the sermon for our congregation yesterday. And what should be the Gospel text in our lectionary but a section from Mark's Gospel which included the Parable of the Mustard Seed! So, since the children are with us in their Play and Pray area in the chapel, I decided we should have a children's lesson as well as a grown-up sermon.

I invited everyone to come to the front of the chapel before the Gospel reading, and presented the Godly Play lesson then. After we'd wondered for a bit, and put the materials away, I had everyone stand to listen to the Gospel, or rather, the bits that hadn't already been presented in the Godly Play lesson, which is to say Mark 4: 26-29 and 33-34. Only then did everyone go back to their original places, and I went to the pulpit for the sermon.

This was actually the first time I've presented this lesson, as it was see-through-faith who presented it last year! There were various minor "flaws" in my presentation. It was hard for me to stay in the story and not get impatient with how long it took to unfurl the creased branches of the shrub/tree. When I'd practiced at home, I'd managed to get these to "stick" pretty well to the underlay as I unrolled it, but today they wouldn't un-crumple. Plus I was distracted with nerves about the other upcoming sermon.

I did get a good chuckle from the congregation at the beginning when I bunched up the underlay and suggested it might be a splodge of mustard.

The wondering remained silent ...

photo kindly taken by Rami Rekola

... but many people (not just children) took the opportunity to place birds and nests into the story themselves.

guest post: remembering a parable

Written by see-through faith on 23 May

Saturday was our wedding anniversary. 23 years.

We woke up together but spent the morning apart. Hubby busy with stuff around the house and I – I cycled over to our all age Godly play morning.

It was fabulous. Storyteller opened up the story of the great family of God in a new and exciting way.

But before that there was a heart stopping moment for me. As part of her introduction to the session storyteller explained to the group that all the stories in the room we had already had this year except for the one we were about to hear that morning. One of the young members of junior church raised their hand and repectfully reminded us that there was one story storyteller hadn’t heard! Because stf (that’s me!) had put in a new parable box the week before.

photo by see-through faith

That was nice.

But then the heart-stopping moment all teachers dread … One of the adults asked. Oh … can you tell us what parable it was?

silence

(I’m sitting there thinking … wrong question … I never gave the parable a name. How awfully embarassing for the child. How awfully embarrasing for me.)

But I was wrong.

The three little children (all 5 and under) looked at where the box was placed and then at me and then with very little prompting they remembered – and started to tell the story to the grown ups.

They remembered the story of the tiny little seed, so tiny if I had it on the end of my finger you wouldn’t be able to see it!

which was planted by a sower

and it grew

and grew

and grew

until it was a huge shrub

as big as a tree

photo by see-through faith (taken from the children's viewpoint)

and the birds of the air

came

and made their nests in it.


Then it was time to quiz the adults as to what parable that actually was. That was the fun part. (grin) You see there is more than one parable about the Kingdom of God which talks about seeds and sowers and birds, but only one in which the birds of the air make their nests.

That parable is – of course!- the parable of the mustard seed.
(You can find it in Matt 13:31-32)