Last Tuesday night, Sheryl, I, and the kids went to a little service at Christ the King, a Catholic Church here in town. The service was associated with Sant'Egidio, a group committing itself to community, prayer, worship, and service to the poor.
Afterwards, Kinsey and I walked around a little and we went into the main section of the Sanctuary. They had a large crucifix with Jesus hanging on it. I asked Kinsey who it was and she knew that it was Jesus on the Cross. As we turned to walk away, she took my hand and said, "Daddy, I don't want to die on a Cross." I turned back to her and knelt down.
"Why do you think you would need to die on a cross, sweetie?"
She looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Jesus did and if he did, that means I'm going to have to too."
"No sweetie, you probably won't have to die on a cross. That really only happened back when Jesus was alive... I mean, when he walked on this earth. And don't you remember? He came back to life after he died and that means we will too."
She nodded thoughtfully and said, "Well, that's true. But I still don't want to die on a cross."
"Me either."
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3 comments:
Phil, are we really prepared for handling the tough questions our children ask based on the disciple we are teaching them?
I have to admit I haven't put enough thought into the questions and probing I will create as I try to teach my child the true Gospel of Christ (and try to understand it myself).
You handled the question well I think. Interesting that our children both happended to ask tough questions involving discipleship over the last week.
Tony
Well, I haven't had any questions like that yet. Christian knows that Jesus died on a cross for him (at least he knows that is the response he is to give when we ask him "Who's that?" when we see a picture of Jesus), but I can see where the confusion comes. Jesus does say we have to pick up our cross and follow him. I agree with Tony that we don't do a good job of teaching what that means, even if it doesn't mean literally having nails driven through your hands and feet.
That must have been a pretty scary realization!
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