Witness

Conversation between myself and my 11 year old son Isaac which occurred last Monday:  

Isaac:  “Mom, I was watching a documentary on YouTube about Hades (research for his school God/Goddess project).  It says that Jesus wanted all people to come out of the underworld but Hades (who took all of these people to the underworld) did not want that.  So that really annoyed Jesus so he cast Hades into a pit of fire but it didn’t kill him because Hades is immortal.”

Me:  “Wow.  Jesus threw someone into a pit of fire?”

Isaac:  “Yes.  Hades.”

Me:  “That doesn’t exactly sound like the Jesus I know about.”

Isaac:  “Me either.  At least not the Godly Play Jesus.  There is only one Jesus right?”

Me:  “Yes.  That is what I believe.  How about you?”

Isaac:  “I don’t know.  We maybe we haven’t learned that story in Godly Play yet.  Maybe the Hades part is coming soon.  We’ll see.”

In this exchange  I hear a developing understanding of who Jesus is:

There is only one.
He probably isn’t a man who threw people into pits of fire.
There is more to be learned.

I am grateful that my son has a group in which to explore his faith.  To ask questions and wonder about Jesus and Hades.  I am grateful for the adults who are willing to live in the stories of  the Bible with the children of our church.  To provide a stable and loving environment as they branch out.                         ~Linda