"Oh send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling." Psalm 43:3
One way to follow the lead truth offers is by paying attention to the words we use. What happens when we are careful to be truthful?
Recently, I had a Sunday off from teaching in our Godly Play class at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. After church, I asked a child how her Godly Play class had been. She said, "We didn't have it, because nobody came." I thought, "That's not right -- you came." Because I have learned to value the path that speaking truth opens, I was able to somehow make a break in the conversation at that point and her mother, who overheard us talking, explained that she had joined the older children for Sunday school.
Does it mean anything that she could not count herself, that she did not say something like, "I joined the older class because I was the only one to show up for ours" or "nobody else came but me, so I went to the other class?" If truth will lead us, I believe that we will be more easily led if we practice speaking truthfully. As adults, we can help the children rely on truth as a gift or tool of God, by speaking accurately, even when we think it does not matter or maybe especially when we think it cannot matter.
I will look for an example of learning to speak more truthfully myself today. Somehow, you know how humans are, I more easily remember the errors of others!
One way to follow the lead truth offers is by paying attention to the words we use. What happens when we are careful to be truthful?
Recently, I had a Sunday off from teaching in our Godly Play class at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. After church, I asked a child how her Godly Play class had been. She said, "We didn't have it, because nobody came." I thought, "That's not right -- you came." Because I have learned to value the path that speaking truth opens, I was able to somehow make a break in the conversation at that point and her mother, who overheard us talking, explained that she had joined the older children for Sunday school.
Does it mean anything that she could not count herself, that she did not say something like, "I joined the older class because I was the only one to show up for ours" or "nobody else came but me, so I went to the other class?" If truth will lead us, I believe that we will be more easily led if we practice speaking truthfully. As adults, we can help the children rely on truth as a gift or tool of God, by speaking accurately, even when we think it does not matter or maybe especially when we think it cannot matter.
I will look for an example of learning to speak more truthfully myself today. Somehow, you know how humans are, I more easily remember the errors of others!
RSS Feed