Here is a meaningful discussion about childhood development and our natural longing for spirituality. This is a Christian Perspective - I will post two additional religious perspectives later this week.
[Adapted from Kathy Coffey, Baptism and Beyond:
Preparing for Baptism and Nurturing Your Child’s Spirituality
(Living the Good News, 2000).]
The Parent’s Role
Few parents would refuse to feed a hungry child. Yet
many parents are unsure how to nurture a child’s spiritual
hungers. Some may not even know what they are. One
way to tap into these desires is by remembering your
childhood.
Did you have longings you could not voice, a desire for
something you could not explain even to those who were
closest? Perhaps you recall a snatch of music, the sound
of a certain voice, a glimpse of the night sky, a fascination
with a spider web or an affection for a certain blanket or
stuffed animal.
Maybe a particular smell or taste evoked an inexplicable
yearning—not for any food or toy or experience that a
parent could provide, but for something beyond all that,
not sold at any store.
Some theologians call this “desire for I know not what”
an echo of God’s desire that creates us and sustains us
in being. God brings us into existence and plants in our
hearts a deep thirst for the All, the great mystery, the
infinite love. God is the source of what we most desire
and the reason for our being.
How can we get in touch with a child’s spirituality
if we’re out of touch with our own? Just as a mother
protects the fetus during pregnancy by avoiding drugs or
alcohol, so too the birth of a child calls for many changes
in lifestyle.
Besides giving up sleep and adjusting schedules, one vital
change may be to find more quiet time for reflection.
Life gets busier with children, which is all the more
reason to slow down. Ask what can be eliminated from
your schedule to give the child (and yourselves!) more
time and peace. It isn’t necessary to enroll your growing
child in every imaginable activity. Quiet, empty time and
reflection are essential for the health of the souls of both
children and adults.
As with every other facet of child development, the
parent’s role changes as the child grows. Initially, the
child learns all he or she needs to know about God and
humanity from the parent: that mom or dad can be
trusted, that an expression of need will be answered, and
that someone will respond to the most basic attempts to
communicate.
At a time when the child is immensely vulnerable, the
parent’s voice and touch reassure that she is not alone,
that someone will care for him. The parent who tires
of diaper changes or 2 a.m. feedings should know the
importance of these seemingly mundane tasks. They are
more than physical chores; they teach a child the most
basic lesson of trust, without which future growth is
difficult or impossible.
Encouraging the
Religious Imagination
Few parents would argue with the idea that young
children have vivid imaginations. Watch their eyes widen
at things adults ordinarily take for granted: lightning,
dew, the spiral of a cinnamon roll, the rainbow that dark
oil reflects in a puddle, bugs, feathers, pebbles and fur.
Sophisticated media are also aware of the child’s
imagination. They appeal to it through movies, television,
advertising, because the appeal can be direct and visceral.
It bypasses words and ideas to approach the child in a
vulnerable and easily impressionable place.
Listen to any preschooler hum the theme from the latest
television show or advertising slogan. Watch as they
model their favorite cartoon characters. Their T-shirts
often display the face or logo of a favorite athlete or
team. In later years, they fervently admire sports figures
or movie stars and are firmly convinced that they too can
become the stars of the playing field or screen.
This natural aptitude can be turned to the religious
imagination. Parents interested in encouraging a child’s
spirituality can appeal to the imagination on the same
grounds as the media—not necessarily with words and
ideas, but with symbols and stories.
Preparing for Baptism and Nurturing Your Child’s Spirituality
(Living the Good News, 2000).]
The Parent’s Role
Few parents would refuse to feed a hungry child. Yet
many parents are unsure how to nurture a child’s spiritual
hungers. Some may not even know what they are. One
way to tap into these desires is by remembering your
childhood.
Did you have longings you could not voice, a desire for
something you could not explain even to those who were
closest? Perhaps you recall a snatch of music, the sound
of a certain voice, a glimpse of the night sky, a fascination
with a spider web or an affection for a certain blanket or
stuffed animal.
Maybe a particular smell or taste evoked an inexplicable
yearning—not for any food or toy or experience that a
parent could provide, but for something beyond all that,
not sold at any store.
Some theologians call this “desire for I know not what”
an echo of God’s desire that creates us and sustains us
in being. God brings us into existence and plants in our
hearts a deep thirst for the All, the great mystery, the
infinite love. God is the source of what we most desire
and the reason for our being.
How can we get in touch with a child’s spirituality
if we’re out of touch with our own? Just as a mother
protects the fetus during pregnancy by avoiding drugs or
alcohol, so too the birth of a child calls for many changes
in lifestyle.
Besides giving up sleep and adjusting schedules, one vital
change may be to find more quiet time for reflection.
Life gets busier with children, which is all the more
reason to slow down. Ask what can be eliminated from
your schedule to give the child (and yourselves!) more
time and peace. It isn’t necessary to enroll your growing
child in every imaginable activity. Quiet, empty time and
reflection are essential for the health of the souls of both
children and adults.
As with every other facet of child development, the
parent’s role changes as the child grows. Initially, the
child learns all he or she needs to know about God and
humanity from the parent: that mom or dad can be
trusted, that an expression of need will be answered, and
that someone will respond to the most basic attempts to
communicate.
At a time when the child is immensely vulnerable, the
parent’s voice and touch reassure that she is not alone,
that someone will care for him. The parent who tires
of diaper changes or 2 a.m. feedings should know the
importance of these seemingly mundane tasks. They are
more than physical chores; they teach a child the most
basic lesson of trust, without which future growth is
difficult or impossible.
Encouraging the
Religious Imagination
Few parents would argue with the idea that young
children have vivid imaginations. Watch their eyes widen
at things adults ordinarily take for granted: lightning,
dew, the spiral of a cinnamon roll, the rainbow that dark
oil reflects in a puddle, bugs, feathers, pebbles and fur.
Sophisticated media are also aware of the child’s
imagination. They appeal to it through movies, television,
advertising, because the appeal can be direct and visceral.
It bypasses words and ideas to approach the child in a
vulnerable and easily impressionable place.
Listen to any preschooler hum the theme from the latest
television show or advertising slogan. Watch as they
model their favorite cartoon characters. Their T-shirts
often display the face or logo of a favorite athlete or
team. In later years, they fervently admire sports figures
or movie stars and are firmly convinced that they too can
become the stars of the playing field or screen.
This natural aptitude can be turned to the religious
imagination. Parents interested in encouraging a child’s
spirituality can appeal to the imagination on the same
grounds as the media—not necessarily with words and
ideas, but with symbols and stories.