The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?

Fiction: Christopher Columbus sailed to the new world on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

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I recently overheard a religious leader state that a good Christian education will emphasize teaching children good behavior. Children should learn early how to act in Christian ways: being kind and polite, telling the truth, being honest, etc.

Those are all good things, of course. Who will argue that children should be capable of good behavior? But a Christian education which focuses only on good behavior (orthopraxis) may be as detrimental to the spiritual formation for children as one that focuses primarily on right belief (orthodoxy). Behavior is an outward action which can be totally unrelated to inner values or beliefs. Acting kind is not necessarily an indicator that someone has moved from a state of egocentricity and is capable of being considerate of others—it may be reciprocally motivated— “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” Acting honest may only be a fear of getting caught and an aversion to being punished (pain-avoidance). And, acting polite may only be a thinly masked skill in manipulation.

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One of the most chilling areas of psychology, for me (whether clinical, developmental, educational, or those associated with faith development), is child psychology. I’m not sure what it is, exactly. Perhaps it’s a result of my stint at the children’s ward at a state mental hospital during my CPE experience. Or perhaps it’s because a too-close examination of the inner workings of the childhood psyche explodes any naiveté we may want to hold onto related to children’s innocence. Or perhaps it’s the horrifying prospect of witnessing unleashed raw psychic emotional energy from the id without the restraining correctives of the accumulated layers of social constraints adults enjoy which keep them from killing each other—or themselves—at any given moment.

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If I only had the nerve…

I would lead a children’s time where I would tell the children to come to the chancel, as I normally do. Then I would tell them, “You know I really have to use the restroom. I’ll back really soon. Don’t tell anyone I left. I’m sure I won’t miss anything.” Then I would exit.

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The Child in Christian Thought, ed. by Marcia J. Bunge (Religion, Marriage, and Family series. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001. 513 pp. $24.00. ISBN 0-8028-4693-9) is a collection of essays on the concept and theological thinking about the child throughout Christian history. The book is part of the larger “The Child in Christian Thought” project by editor Marcia Bunge that strived to inform current thinking on children, the church, and families by tracing the concept of the child and childhood through the history of Christian thought.

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One of my all-time favorite cartoons growing up was Quickdraw McGraw and his faithful companion, Babalooi (does that date me?). Do you remember them? Quickdraw was the noble but naïve, quick-on-the-trigger sheriff who fought off wicked desperados who inevitably found their way into his small quiet prairie town. Babalooi was the devoted and wise Mexican companion who always saved Quickdraw from his misguided attempts. In case you didn’ t know, Quickdraw was a horse and Babalooi was a burrito (a donkey, not the Taco Bell kind!)—they were the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza of Saturday mornings.

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One of my favorite and often-visited websites is that of the Project Gutenberg. There are over 20,000 free books (electronic texts) in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog, a bibliophile’s dream! It’s been a great source of reading material for my very cool SONY Reader.

The good folks at Project Gutenberg have a nice collection of recommended Advent and Christmas readings. Most of these are short enough for a daily reading in addition to your daily lectionary readings.

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The central thesis of Marjorie J Thompson’s Family: The Forming Center. A vision of the role of family in spiritual formation (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1996), is that, for good or evil, the home is the primary context in which spiritual formation takes place. Spiritual formation can take place through intentional teaching and practices, or it can take place through modeling and unconscious attitudes, but it will take place. Spiritual formation is likely the most foundational formation that takes place in a child’s early life, overlapping with mental, physical and ethical formation. The question for parents is what kind of formation is taking place? The answer for Christian families is that they should be formed to the image of Christ and not the world.

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In the midst of preparation to lead a retreat this weekend, with “Home for Christmas” as its theme, I’ve been reminded of the old adage about how the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The idea for this particular retreat came to me as “the holidays” were drawing to a close a year ago.  I had taken a hastily scheduled trip to Portland to spend a week with my younger sister, as she prepared to begin radiation and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.  That ordeal was to begin in January.  Meanwhile, we were to have a week of “sister time,” the week we usually had in August, but this year August had been consumed by our joint effort to connect, or reconnect, cousins - - her children, my children, their children - - whose homes are on opposite coasts.  That was before the cancer changed everything.

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Soul Cakes: A November Family Faith Activity

One ancient tradition is the Soul Cake. It is where the modern day term “Soul Food” originated.

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