Adults who work with kids often say about their jobs "It keeps me young", " "kids say the most profound things", or, like me, "I just like eating graham crackers." While working at camp this summer, I have really tried to figure out how children think so as to more effectively communicate with them. One last thing to stretch this introduction out a little bit longer. This post is more about the little ones, ages 6-10, than the older kids. Sorry, middle schoolers.
At camp, we do cabin Pow Wows everyday. These Pow Wows are equivalent to a small group bible study, but with much, much simpler concepts. Most of the kids at our camp have little to no exposure to the Church. As if it was not already tough enough to try and answer questions about the concept of a triune God. Try explaining theological concepts to a 7 year-old boy with severe ADHD who did not take his medicine and is hopped up on the Pixie Stix he smuggled into camp. The only way to get through to these amazing people, is through the most basic archetypes. These kids might not be able to tie their shoes, or remember when to go to the bathroom, but they certainly understand why we root for Luke Skywalker over Darth Vader. After thinking about why this is for a few days, a question struck me. At what point in my life did I begin to think of the world in terms of good and evil?
The first description in the Bible of something being good comes in Genesis 1:3-4. "Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness." We know a few things for sure, God's creation is good, and that he separated "the good" from the darkness, which is not described as anything. Therefore, we should not assume that the darkness, which "God called night," is necessarily bad, or evil.
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