The MOST

On the Pearl of Great Price:
Taylor was reflecting on the parable of The Kingdom of Heaven and the Pearl of Great Price, and how the merchant gave all he had for one precious pearl. Taylor said, "It SEEMS like he went for the least. But he went for the MOST."

During the presentation on the Kingdom of God and the Mustard Seed, while looking at the mustard seed, Sam, age 2, spoke of babies and of having been a baby. Later he prayed, “thank you, thank you, thank you God for the mustard seed.” He then chose to take a seed home with him.

"Heaven has everything"

Paul, age 4 said, "He (the Merchant) sold everything even his table to buy the pearl, but the pearl is heaven and heaven has everything...."

When doing The Leaven with another child, Jenna, age 7, said, ”The Leaven rose like Jesus going to the Kingdom of Heaven.” After doing The Leaven work again later, she enjoyed a new meditation work using clay and formed a table with the bread on it. She said “The leaven grows and the Kingdom of Heaven grows and my bones grow.” She also wondered about heaven, “If it had towns for all the people and each town had a grain of leaven, it would use the hair and skin of God and everything would grow and be made of God.”

Reflecting on the Hidden Treasure, I asked, “What is treasure?” Children mentioned favorite toys or stuffed animals. Kyle, age 6, explained that treasure is something to share with everyone else.

Pour Goodness into Herod

Flora, age 7, was working with the Leaven. She had prepared two bowls of flour and water--one with yeast and one without--in order to meditate on how the Kingdom of Heaven is like the leaven. Her catechist wondered how the dough with the leaven in it could be like the Kingdom of God. Pointing back and forth between the two bowls, she said:

(bowl with leaven)“Power, (bowl without leaven)No Power;
(bowl with leaven)Love (bowl without leaven)Less love;
(bowl with leaven)A big heart, a big family;
(bowl with leaven)“Bright, like God;(bowl without leaven)Dark, like Herod” (earlier in the day, she had had the presentation on the Flight into Egypt)
(bowl with leaven)Big world;(bowl without leaven)Tiny, tiny world
(bowl with leaven)Bread and wine;(bowl without leaven)Water and candy, cause candy’s not good for you.”
The following week, she asked about Herod, “Why would he kill a baby?” Flora was again working with the Leaven. She said, “I wish I could pour this in [the leavened dough into the unleavened]…pour goodness into Herod.”

He would need his power now...

During a "review" of Good Shepherd presentation at the beginning of the new school year:
Q: What do you already know about the Good Shepherd?"
Barney, age 6: "The Good Shepherd was Jesus. When Jesus decided to leave heaven and come down to earth, the angels held his power for him. And on the day when he went down under the water to get baptized, those angels brought him down his power and sprinkled it all through him like glitter, because they knew he would need his power now."

"Because He's God"

When I wondered why the Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, to a baby, Krysta, age 5, answered, “because he’s God.”

He told them how he loved

To my question of the Simeon and Anna could have known who Jesus was among all the people in the Temple when Jesus was presented there as a child, Nadia, age 4, responded, Maybe when he was in heaven before coming into his mommy’s tummy, he talked to them and told them how he loved.”