Easter with Children

This is an important time for children, and the following is written with those who nurture children’s spirituality in mind.

In the Northern Hemisphere, Easter coincides with spring, offering natural opportunities to experience new life! One of my favourite “Easter moments” occurred on a summer afternoon on the banks of the Mira River. All afternoon, my son and I stayed riveted to the shore as a dragonfly emerged from the split back of its nymph stage.  The miracle of new life was hard to deny. Never could we have imagined the gentle transformation from one stage to another. It was cause for celebration and an opportunity for teaching and learning. We recognised the vulnerable stage as the soft body, no longer protected by its hard shell, waiting for the wings to unfold. We saw how different one stage was from the next, and we held the mystery. The experience of Easter includes holding mystery.

Metamorphosis is not a new theme, but the dragonfly image has helped me teach about resurrection and make a connection between science and faith. Some things are eternal. The questions of our three year olds become the experiences of teenagers very quickly.  The Easter story is a crucial one as we deal with everyday examples of death and rebirth. I believe that learning to live includes learning about death. At some point your child will experience the death of someone close.  It may be the loss of a pet, or it could be a loss of someone more significant. People tell children strange things that do little to lessen their fears or nurture their faith. Although these messages may be well intended, I’d encourage you to keep your lessons about death simple, true, and loving. Allow the Easter story to be one that inspires hope without setting up roadblocks.

       Remember that resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. I remember hearing Marcus Borg say, “resurrection is not something you could capture on video tape.”

       Keep what children will eventually unlearn to a minimum. While it may be easy to reject the idea of the bunny at some point, it is never the hope in faith formation that the teachings will be rejected. Faith formation offers us something to build upon.

       Don’t try to answer questions you can’t answer. It is good to let kids know you don’t have every mystery figured out.

Nothing starts conversation better than the “wondering questions.” They are non confrontational, yet allow us to explore more deeply. There are lots of things to wonder about in the Easter story and these questions may lead to life giving conversations.       
       I wonder what the disciples thought was most important on Easter morning.
       I wonder if the disciples loved knowing Jesus in a new way.
       I wonder if Jesus was scared.
       I wonder what story Jesus would want us to remember most.
       I wonder how it feels to be a dragonfly.
Our faith offers us the assurance that death does not get the last word. Something of Jesus lives on.  That’s the Good News worth celebrating everyday!