The blessing at the end of a Godly Play lesson is an very important aspect of the overall concept. When we bless the children, we are asking God to call forth all that is good, beautiful, and like the Triune God that is in them.
I've been thinking a lot about blessings lately, because when I was in Ireland, part of our retreat was to write specific blessings for each member of our family. We also wrote blessings for rooms in our home where community takes place.
Usually we do a group blessing at the end of our Godly Play blessing before we say good-bye at the door. We do this, because the parents are standing outside the door waiting for us to finish the feast and the children then get in a big hurry to get out of the door. It doesn't always make for a meaningful individual blessing, although I do this with certain children anyway if I notice that they are not in too big of a rush to receive it.
On Sunday, at the end of our feast, we put on some classical music, Bach's Christmas Suite, and told the children that we were going to do something special before they went home. They were very tired, antsy, and ready to get up. Nevertheless, I explained that I wanted to whisper a special blessing to each one of them in their ear that was just for them and only they could hear. Immediately, a 5-year-old girl asked if I was going to say the same thing to each person or if each blessing would be different. I replied that each blessing would be unique.
Well, as soon as I started, it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. Each child sat quietly and eagerly awaited their turn to be blessed. Their faces lit up and beamed as I whispered the blessing into each of their ears. It was truly a holy moment that I will never forget.
A special thanks to Maxi, my co-teacher, who had the idea to play classical music while we were doing this special blessing. That helped a great deal in setting the tone for what was to come.
How do you bless the children in your church?
I've been thinking a lot about blessings lately, because when I was in Ireland, part of our retreat was to write specific blessings for each member of our family. We also wrote blessings for rooms in our home where community takes place.
Usually we do a group blessing at the end of our Godly Play blessing before we say good-bye at the door. We do this, because the parents are standing outside the door waiting for us to finish the feast and the children then get in a big hurry to get out of the door. It doesn't always make for a meaningful individual blessing, although I do this with certain children anyway if I notice that they are not in too big of a rush to receive it.
On Sunday, at the end of our feast, we put on some classical music, Bach's Christmas Suite, and told the children that we were going to do something special before they went home. They were very tired, antsy, and ready to get up. Nevertheless, I explained that I wanted to whisper a special blessing to each one of them in their ear that was just for them and only they could hear. Immediately, a 5-year-old girl asked if I was going to say the same thing to each person or if each blessing would be different. I replied that each blessing would be unique.
Well, as soon as I started, it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. Each child sat quietly and eagerly awaited their turn to be blessed. Their faces lit up and beamed as I whispered the blessing into each of their ears. It was truly a holy moment that I will never forget.
A special thanks to Maxi, my co-teacher, who had the idea to play classical music while we were doing this special blessing. That helped a great deal in setting the tone for what was to come.
How do you bless the children in your church?
 |
| Public Domain Image |
I searched "Bach Christmas Suite" but nothing turned up. Can you share the exact title?
ReplyDeleteIt's called the "Christmas Oratorio" in English, and Maxi played a that was mostly instrumental.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the typos - she played a part of the Oratorio that was mostly instrumental.
DeleteWhat a lovely idea. I have always wondered if there might be a way to bring the beauty of music into a session and this appears to work well for your description, without being intrusive or directional in any particular way.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judy! Yes, the use of music is a sensitive topic in Godly Play. We don't want to be intrusive or directional, but at the same time, we wonder, how are the children to explore the music of the church if they are not exposed to it? And how can they make their own music without being intrusive on the work periods of the other children?
Delete