Sunday, February 8, 2009

The communication of faith

Faith is caught not taught. At least it is not taught by a human. It is the Spirit that communicates breath to the breathing. I taught my first ever whole Sunday school lesson - 5 students aged 8-12 roughly. Three boys and two girls.

I cannot know what they will learn or how they will be tested but I hope they will remember that they had some real history and language given to them when they were very young. If I had seen Hebrew when I was young would I remember more than the vagueness of room and floor covering, the smell of the stairwell, a dim memory of ancient stories? I don't think I remember much at all from those days - aged 5 to maybe 8 - (I know I was there at least once after age 7 because I remember a Sunday when I had been away at private school - and I know I started my 9 years away at age 8.)

I acknowledged the faith of that congregation at Granby United Church years later in my late 20s (c. 1974) when I first believed the reality of my baptism. (I had been baptized there as an infant). I hope, in spite of all the abundance of our shared ignorance, and my vague memories, that they will be rewarded. I see they don't have a web page - too bad.

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