A Demonstration of God's Love

This was my first time to participate in a Vacation Bible School .  Even as a child, the closest was a couple of church camps. Gathering up cast members in the midst of three other major obligations during the next couple of months seemed too much for this little brain to handle at the time, but I must say, the experience was one I will always remember.  First of all, once the week was set in motion it was full of one big happy family of all ages.  One of my cast asked me if we should be having this much fun!  The air seemed full of energy with the workers playing right along with the kids.  There was laughter, and screaming, and jumping, and singing - as if God had decided to settle for that one week right at St. Theodore's.

The one episode that will always stand out with clarity occurred my 4th day as the Archeologist at Promise Point where the children went in to meet with some "real" bible characters (so aptly stated by one of the pre-schoolers).  I was waiting for my first group - the pre-schoolers - and three of them spontaneously ran to me, grabbed me around the legs and said, "I love you, I love you, I love you!".  Through my own tears I hugged them and then others and we had one big spontaneous hug fest.  After the skit, and while waiting for the next group of grades 1-2, I told the cast what had just taken place. While I spoke, an hypothesis formed that brought sadness.  I predicted that as I went out for the next two groups, that spontaneity would progressively diminish.  

The next group came, sat in front of me, and I told them what had happened with the first group and how good it had felt.  I suggested we do the same thing.  The children immediately started returning hugs and hugging each other once I started.  The last group came - grades 3-5 - and I went through the same story.  I received some very strange looks from the children, like, "are you for real lady?".  I started the hugs and eventually everybody sort of participated, but the reluctance was palpable.  

I used that sequence of behaviors as a lesson for them to think about.  They had once been like the pre-schoolers, but over time, somehow they had been taught to not show that demonstration of love.  At the younger ages, they had not thought about skin color or clothing, they way someone talked, or whether they wore glasses, or what their sexual preference might be, or that one gender was worth more than another.  They were simply as God had formed them and showed God's love with honesty, sincerity and spontaneity.  

I will always wonder if I struck a chord, or - as Fr. Ken's story during his recent sermon about the duck town stated - "the ducks waddled home to a duck dinner" totally unaware that they could fly.

Ginger Hamilton

 

top