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By Kelley Renz
All kids are impressionable. But kids in the elementary years retain an innocence that deepens that impression-ability. We must keep this in mind as we model for them the love and ways of Almighty God.
For instance, have we, over time, and quite unintentionally, taught our charges that God is more pleased with our giving up of things than He is with our enjoyment of His gifts? This is important to consider during the time of Lent. Giving up things nurtures discipline and that is a must-have character strength for all young people and adults.
ake sure your students know that the giving up is to exercise the muscle of discipline. Make sure they realize that depriving ourselves isn’t something that God gets a kick out of in and of itself. God wants us to be of strong character and compassionate. So, this Lent, a little giving up is fine; just know what that giving up is really for!
While we’re exercising that muscle of discipline, we can focus, too, on the muscle of compassion. We’re all born with a dose of compassion; it’s part of the image of God stamped within each of us. We must be about nurturing it and bringing it to life within us.
Create a Wall of Compassion for the Lenten Season. Challenge students to bring in images of people, places, creatures, events that are in need of human compassion. Discuss each image before it goes up on the wall.
reate a prayer together, asking God to meet that need. Discuss ways that human beings can meet that need. For older students, discuss ways the behavior of human beings has contributed to that need. If there is something that you and your students can do to affect a certain need, do it!
This time of year brings out the partisan talk in the classroom. You can point to each child and tell which political party is adhered to in his or her home just by the way each student talks. Challenge your students to pray for each party’s candidate. Discuss “muscles” each candidate must exercise to be a good president and vice president. Because of the war and the economy, students are more tuned in to the effect a president can have than in previous election years. Take advantage of this awareness and make praying for the candidates and all our leaders part and parcel of your Lenten discipline.
Kelley Renz is a freelance writer and veteran catechist with over twenty years in religious education. She is the author of God Listens to Our Children (OSV) and the blog “Dear God, This Is Kelley” (http://deargodthisiskelley.blogspot.com).
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