Missing God's Flashing Neon Signs

Before I get into today's post, I just had to add a comment related to yesterday's post. Remember I posted about the part in Luke 6 which spoke of the importance of loving ones enemies? I said I considered it one of the most important parts of the Bible as it is central to Jesus' message. Well, I went to the children's Bible that my MIL got for E Easter before last. This Bible (The Bible for Children from Good Books) is written for elementary age kids. The stories are chunked together (like the stories that are found in more than one place as in the Synoptic Gospels, etc.) into one version. So it isn't a direct verse-by-verse copy of the Bible. And I realize some things had to be pared out to make it more readable for kids. But the bit from Luke 6 about loving your enemies isn't in there! How can such a central and important part of the Bible and Christ's message be omitted from a Bible for kids? That's just crazy and makes me angry. The focus, as usual, is on how Jesus died and what people believe happened afterward. A more minimal focus is on what he supposedly did (as in the miracles). But the thing they included the least of is what Jesus said! If only they had eyes to see and ears to hear! Maybe I should add to my own eventual "to do" list that I should write a children's Bible that focuses on what Jesus taught. I wonder if such a thing exists anywhere. I find it hard to believe it doesn't.

Okay...enough of that...on to today...

Today was D's first day in the preschool class at church. I also volunteered to teach today considering that I wasn't sure how he'd behave on his own. I've never taught kids this young so I wasn't sure how it would go, but it went surprisingly well. They loved making collages with glue and beads, yarn, dried beans and pasta, tissue paper, etc. And it wasn't even a huge mess at the end.

I keep getting these spiritual nudges too. I haven't been to church often this summer, I confess. But the last couple of times I've gone I've had separate people come up to me and ask me about the UU Christian group. When I put out my initial informational blurb in the church newsletter early last spring, I only had two people contact me with interest. But since then I've gotten trickles of interest. This morning a woman spoke to me about a Christian friend of hers who was considering coming to our church but wasn't sure she'd be welcome. This woman told her friend she thought she would be welcome and she mentioned me. She had forwarded a recent sermon Rev. Don had given called "Was Jesus a Unitarian?" to her friend (an excellent sermon, BTW, about the first century Christians and the early unitarian/trinitarian debate). She asked if I minded if she give her friend my name and number. I said not at all.

I can't help but think that God is nudging me to get on with it. I know I've been dragging my heels on setting up this Christian group for fear that there was lack of interest or maybe even hostility toward the idea. But I think I need to get over it and just do it. Our DRE told me a few weeks ago that Rev. Don mentioned maybe starting a Bible study group this year. I find that exciting. And I am also going to be the RE Curriculum Associate which, among other things, should involve me adapting a Bible-based curriculum for our older elementary kids. How many more hints to I have to get before I hear the message? :-)