Last week we did the creation story in Godly Play and I loved revisiting the story. I was particularly struck by the last creation card...
"On the seventh day God rested and gave us the gift of a day to rest - and to remember the great gifts of all the other days"
the storyteller places the 7th card, which is blank
"There is nothing here, because people go to different places to remember the great gifts [God gave us in the days of creation]. You can put something there to show your favorite place to remember. It might be in the mountains or by the ocean or a lake. I don't know where your place is. Only you know."
(Godly Play Volume 2, 48)
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And so today we didn't go to church, because while church plays a special role in our lives*, it is not always the best place to give thanks for God's great gifts. And in this rugged climate, days like today are not to be taken for granted. It was beautiful and we headed to the beach. Before moving to Scotland I would never have said that the beach was a place where I particularly met God and was reminded of his great creation because 'beach' conjured up pictures of masses of tourists sunbathing, which is simply not the whole truth about beaches.
Living by scottish beaches I've discovered tidepools, rocky sand, and cold north sea waves, which are beautiful and awe inspiring. So today, we went to Elie to the beach. We found fish, crabs and jellyfish. We played with sand and felt slimy seaweed. We splashed in the waves and had sand ooze between our toes.
And I felt so grateful. So grateful for a beautiful world and for two silly little boys who had such a good time putting sand on each other's heads I couldn't stop them...
No one can tell you where your place is and perhaps there are many places - some of them yet to be discovered.
* because of some feedback on this post I want to clarify that we believe it is extremely important to be involved in and regularly attend our church. This day was certainly the exception and not the rule. I am grateful for the freedom we have as Christians and the support we have from our Christian community to occasionally make choices to worship creatively in creation.
2 comments:
A Beautiful post! I just ordered 30 peg people to start our Godly play area. I've thought about it since meeting you here on your blog but our year has been crazy and the summer break and planning for next school year has given me time to organize and plan. I can't wait to get our guys and start bringing them to life as well as our Godly Play area!
Jenny, I hope you'll share as your peg people come to life. I've been hoping to make a group of OT characters this summer with Jonah, we'll see how it goes.
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