Friday, May 8, 2009

create (a world) like a child

Last week, I got to spend every morning with my good friend "Swen" and a handful of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders...all we talked about was creativity and song-writing. We tapped chairs and pen tops, drums and our own knees to create various rhythms. We looked all around us for ideas of things to write about and then we took 5 minutes to write non-stop to discover what sources of inspiration were inside of us.
Mid week, the class wrote 2 verses and a chorus about an "Animal Mansion" that was a home for all creatures of the earth. These animals all sang and danced and played together. You could come to sing and dance and play along. Apparently it was such a fun place to be, you'd want to stay forever. WOW, right!?!
These kids totally get something about life and our intrinsic connectedness. Penguins playing with lions, dolphins leaping in the water alongside kangaroos that hop on the shoreline...This all reminds me of another story I've heard, a story about a vision or dream of the earth one day, how it may be when all things are reconciled...the lion and the lamb will lie down together...and a little child shall lead them....