Midrash and Creativity, Parents need Oxygen First

This Sunday’s Family Dojo was more of a parental modeling expose (and I don’t mean posing with new fashionable clothing).  We think our philosophies must be hashed out and we feel it’s healthy to do this in front of the kids.  Don’t worry, there was no yelling, nor plates being thrown, just grown-up talk around Kingdom issues and spiritual parenting.

[Sprinkled through this post you will find original art by Drew and Luke and Char - their creative outlet, imagining the monstrous picture of the warped body that Paul of Tarsus paints in 1 Cor. 12.  .... what if the entire body were an eye?... Oh, and Luke's art is just a colorful world (Luke's own words)].

The ancient art of Midrash (using it very the term very loosely) was a great tool that we slipped into on this day.  Bantering, taking opposing views, wrestling with ideas, and drawing meaning out of the text or our lives and experience helped us come to the truth in the center of our dialogue.

Before we had this discussion we engage with a portion of Psalm 113, where the writer shares his experience of God’s goodness among atrocities – God’s provision in particularly for the poor.  While this is inspiring, this seemed to be the author’s direct experience, writings of what he has seen around him.  We chatted about how we’ve seen God’s provision (yes, we are in  a better place financially and we are immensely well off relatively) especially for people in our lives and around us that are “poor” or hurting.  I have to admit, it was a bit of a stretch.  Sometimes is feels like some people continually experience bad things – as if the pendulum of God’s goodness and grace never swings their way.  We also continue to conclude that somehow and in many ways, we participate in exhibiting God’s delight and friendship with folks that experience dim realities.

Our discussion centered around how it is easy to take either extreme with family spirituality, where gathering can be just for parents and grown ups and kids are shuffled off to the side. Or the gathering is toned down and accommodated just for kids.  I remember being in “big church” growing up, where drawing on the bulletin or falling asleep on the pew were the only options for me.  There was Sunday school and children’s church – two separate compartments, where the families didn’t really overlap.  It makes sense and it works, for the most part.  We found ourselves in the dojo, either accommodating the kids, and we were not challenged or engaged as parents, or we left the kids out and they were antsy, bored, and detached.   Char and I bantered about the balance and our thoughts regarding this realization. 

We centered on the idea that Char and I have to be living and moving in the ways of Jesus, modeling His teaching first, with the recognition that we too need a lab for experimentation, training and growth.

I’m always reminded of this when I travel on an airplane… the flight attendant says, in case of emergency, oxygen masks will drop down… adults secure your masks first, then help the kids. 

Of course there is a balance and continued evaluation is key.

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