My youngest has been showing a great deal of interest in church communion lately. He’s asking lots of questions, holding his hands out while the bread is distributed, and asking “but WHY can’t I have snacks too?” as we walk back toward our pew.
We’ve been talking with him about the Last Supper, what communion means, the Passover meal, etc. He’s always full of questions and particularly likes to talk about Moses (one of his favorite people in the bible) and blood – how it gets into the cup for communion and all that. Needless to say, he keeps us jumping!
Many of the kids his age at church have recently completed their First Communion class. We had decided that this was not going to be the most effective forum for our son to learn about communion. Instead a dear friend (Saint Beth) offered to conduct a custom class just for our son. She developed the materials our church currently uses and knows our son pretty well. She has a gift for working with children that just astounds me – and patience like you wouldn’t believe. And she VOLUNTEERED (wow!).
So Saint Beth, our son, and I met at the church last weekend to talk about communion. Early on we talked about history and Moses. Frustratingly (for me), my son at first acted as if he’d never heard of Moses. Then he decided he couldn’t hold back any longer about his favorite bible superhero and told us about God talking to him in the burning bush, the staff that was thrown to the ground and turned into a snake… He was thrilled to be talking about these amazing feats and happenings. Saint Beth followed his lead and they happily exchanged stories and observations.
AT some point Saint B asked my son if he had any questions. Pleased with this adult who encouraged him to talk about the bits and pieces of the stories that HE found interesting, my son decided to introduce a new topic that was dear to his heart.
“Do you want to see my underpants?”
Saint Beth gently smiled, not sure where this was going but fairly certain that we were moving away from anything having to do with communion, gently answered “No.”
Hoping to entice her, my son said “They’re Go Diego Go.” He didn’t add that they were his particular favorite pair AND had a glow in the dark design.
Saint Beth cocked her head to one side, smiled a bit broader now, and said “I don’t think so, but thank you for offering.”
My son, my sweet funny adorable child, frowned for the briefest second. Then his face lit up as he thought of perhaps a viable alternative. “Wanna see my Tushie?”
We couldn’t hold back the giggles.
Thank you Saint Beth!!!! We love you and know that God is in us and with us all the time!
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