Day Seven: God the Father and Lover, Part One

               “What is something you have created?” I ask my students this at the beginning of this lesson. Again, Bellwork is not meant to be a theological lesson at first. In fact, I have to admit, I chastise, Lovingly, my students who read into things too theologically or religiously. To be honest, I want them to start identifying their material desires and thoughts, and, later, I show them how their thoughts and desires are, in fact, signs pointing to a deeper desire….a desire for God and the Truth of who they are. I give them a minute to think about this question.

                This lesson flows from the attribute of God as Trinity, specifically the Father. It can be difficult teaching about the Persons of the Trinity. The danger is that we separate the Persons too much and we lose a sense of the Oneness of the Trinity. I am intentional about how I talk about each Person of the Trinity. I want my students to always remember that God is both Three and One.

                I start with the Father and how the Father is Creator and the Father is merciful, For prayer I show a cartoon video of the story of Creation and the Fall. It doesn’t matter what cartoon. I just want my students to get it in their mind the concept that God creates but also, we reject Him. I’ll come back to that later.

After we finish praying, I call on student to share their Bellwork. Like usual, the responses vary. Usually they talk about an art project they did for class or a song they may have written. I push them to expand their concept of “creation”. Creation is an act of Love, I tell them. To create is an act of vulnerability. If we do not create, we are not at risk of being rejected, and what is Love if not some form of vulnerability? If my students ever have children, I tell them, they are automatically vulnerable because when their kids are teenagers, they will reject their parents. My students laugh and nod in agreement. This is the act of a Lover…one who Loves. At the same time, one creates so others may benefit. I tie this back to the prayer and suggest the lesson for the day: When God creates He wants us to experience the Beauty of existence and creation, but He also risks being rejected by us. We are beginning to better understand what God “looks like” and what we should strive to be.

                A quick review prepares them for the first objective about how God Loves so much that He creates us.

•       Christianity is a relationship with God.

•       By developing this relationship we know God better and learn that God is Love (Lover, Beloved, and Love…Trinity).

•       If the human race is made in the image and likeness of God, then our purpose on life is to become more Loving and more Beloved as a community because that is what God “looks like).

(Just another morning at the park)