Practicing Generosity: Sharing Wisdom

Elizabeth Caldwell is a professor emerita at McCormick Theological Seminary and visiting professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School as well as the author of many wonderful books including Growing in God’s Love and Wondering about the Bible with Children. Parents, Caldwell points out, are the biggest influence in their children’s religious life, “…parents have the most influence in the religious and spiritual formation of their teenage children: ‘ The best social predictor, although not a guarantee, of what the religious and spiritual life of youth will look like is what the religious and spiritual lives of their parents look like… Parents will most likely ‘get what they are.’” (Pg. 2)

 

She goes on to say, “When parents tell or read a Bible story with a child, they are making a commitment of time and space to share in their child’s spiritual growth. In the telling and reading of stories, in the pauses for questions and comments that always arise, parents are making their spiritual life open and near to their child. And in this intimacy of sharing and wondering together, both child and parent grow together spiritually.” (Pg. 3)

 

With that in mind I’m going to encourage you to read Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the Shema, with your children and wonder about it with them.

 

Wonder about how cool it is that it’s like all the Ten Commandments rolled up into a nice tidy little prayer.

 

Wonder about how cool it is that God told the Israelites to talk to their children about the commandments within the Shema to talk about them when they sat at home and when they walked down the road, when they lay down and when they got up, to tie them on their hands and foreheads (tefillin) and to write them on their doorposts (Mezuzahs).

 

Wonder about how cool it is that it is still one of most important of the Jewish prayers and how it is still discussed in synagogues.

 

Wonder about how this is wisdom passed down from generation to generation literally for thousands of years and wisdom that we too share.

 

And wonder about how simple these commandments are – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” And in doing that you will also Love people – simple, but not easy.

 

Simple things, done with great love.

 

-Carolyn Hayes

Director of Children and Young Families