Because really, I wouldn't be able to stomach it. And. because they really mean a particular, narrow version of Christianity.
My thoughts of this topic were confirmed for me over the course of a few weeks by events at school (Presbyterian) that my kids both attend.
BB came home one day all excited about Heaven. It seemed a bit odd to my ears. He had the following knowledge about what would happen when people died and went to heaven:
They would all get a mansion. The streets were paved in gold. Their bodies would be put back together--whatever injuries they had acquired over their life would be healed. They would never get sick again. You'd get to be with your Grandpas and Grandma...
The next day I asked the teacher what BB had been talking about. Often a six year old's version of a story and reality don't match up.
BB and his kindergarten class were talking about Heaven during their lunch time. I wasn't there and my son isn't one to use descriptive words so I had to piece together what BB said, and what his teacher, who wasn't there either, knew. He couldn't tell me too much more except that after overhearing the students talking at lunch, the lunch aid used part of their recess time to sit them down and tell them what Heaven was like based on scripture she felt helpful on the topic.
It became clear why his retelling of the his faith experience seemed 'off' to me. He had been given all the answers. I don't know what else she said to the kindergarten class but whatever it was, however based in scripture it might have been, I knew from the tone of BB's retelling that it hadn't happened within the confines of the prescribed religious education.
The religious education program of the preschool and kindergarten my kids attend, is the reason they go to this school. I first found the school six years ago while searching for curriculum training on Godly Play. This YouTube video gives a wonderful introduction to what my kids experience everyday at school.
The following week the Associate Director of the school shared with me a funny story from Godly Play time. The students were hearing the story from Palm Sunday.
"I wonder why Jesus was riding on a donkey?" she asked the group.
One preschool boy spoke up and began to speculate that Jesus must be headed to Jerusalem because he was going to have a baby. "That is why he's on the donkey."
The director has been trained in Godly Play and understands that the purpose of the story teller is to help the children wonder and discover God. She was internally laughing and mentally sitting on her hands trying not to jump in and correct the child's idea. Finally, a little girl jumped in.
"No, no...Jesus wasn't having a baby. You are thinking of Mary on the donkey in Advent. Maybe the donkey just wanted to be with him again."
Over the course of BB's three years at this school I have heard him retell countless Biblical stories. Each time he has told the stories, they have come through his voice. The basic truths of the parable are there but they are processed through the developmental stage and unique perspective of BB. The same is true for EG in her first year of preschool. They can retell each story from beginning to end with great detail. Wondering in Godly Play has given each of them the confidence to wonder about the larger more complex questions faith brings to our lives.
"Aren't these seeds amazing Mom? We need to find good soil for them to grown in. Just like we need good soil to grow."
"I wonder how God can be in so many hearts at once?"
"I hope part of my journey isn't to a cross."
Up until very recently neither of my kids came at faith from a black and white place. It was always prefaced in wonderment and questions. It was theological in nature not regurgitation of Sunday School facts. Not until the enticing lecture on golden roads and big mansions. "That is what she said mom. God gives the people who go to heaven whole mansion for ourselves."
A small part of me began to cry inside. Scratch that, I was seeing red as BB told me about it. Because BB doesn't care that I have a M. Div. behind my name. My 12 minutes of proclamation once a month don't really hold any weigh in his life. His teachers and the women who make him lunch hold all the power. And for one brief period of time they betrayed my trust and stopped wondering with my child and instead gave him their specific answer of how God works.
That isn't to say it was horrifically wrong or even theologically ill advised, it is the fact she felt she was suppose to give an answer at all that is bugging me. (ok, lots of what she said bug me...)
The school my kids go to is unique. It is a rare thing for a religious leader to 'wonder' with a child. We are much more equipped to assume they have no faith than to listen to what they believe. We have the impression that it is our responsibility to fill their hearts and minds with the Truth. So, we talk. At them. Often. Sunday School. Children's Sermons. Christian Education.
Which is why I will mostly likely never send my kids to a school that professes a certain religious belief. Chances are very high that I won't like how they present it. Someone will teach something that rubs me the wrong way or is taken out of context by my child.
Science teachers know science and I accept that they know more than me, and my B.A. in Communications, but my M. Div. doesn't mean anything to most people. When it comes to theology, everyone gets to weigh in on God with the same authority as everyone else.
So public school it shall be. I'll allow our congregation and pastors to help shape their faith. I'll get to have a bit more of a hand in shaping their theological thinking.
And, at least that way I won't have to 'wonder' about how God is being taught.
The photos were taken by EG on a particularly lovely Wednesday afternoon.
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