Unless You Become Like A Child

 These parables live a rich life in the atrium. The youngest children respond with a happy sigh, or an “of course!” when pondering the shepherd searching for his sheep. One child proclaimed that the sheep never run away, they only get lost. As adults we know differently, and even the older children are perplexed by the shepherd leaving the 99 and searching for the one. This holds true for the woman searching for the coin - the younger the child the more this makes complete sense. I’m pondering this reality as I think about our Lord’s admonition to be like the little child - to live in certitude of His unfathomable love and mercy. The forgiving Father, or found son, is shared with the children after the age of 7. They also give the contented sigh upon hearing: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him…” We wonder together at the joy, and how long he had been waiting. It’s lovely to think about, no?

Finding God in the Ordinary

 "How is this work supposed to help me learn about God?" I often wonder how the mundane tasks of daily life are building my relationship with Christ? I'm not a particularly good housekeeper and don't even ask about cooking. Still, pray always, right? It's tough - scrubbing toilets, digging hair out of drains, looking for 197 lost socks.....The above question was actually posed to a parent by one of our young atrium children, yet it's been on my mind. Yesterday, I realized that I can scrub toilets because we have indoor plumbing, which a few of my relatives lacked when I was very young. Those socks - we have an abundance! I'm grateful for whoever invented the washer and dryer - and for the sunshine that dries my clothes on the line. As for cooking, our stove top decided it was time for retirement 9 days ago. We were able to find a replacement via our local scratch and dent reseller and it arrived last week - phew. I allowed myself to think about how many hands were involved in bringing that cooktop into our home. May the Lord bless them all!

God is there in the ordinary, if we have but eyes to see. Praying I allow myself to be found in the seemingly endless everyday things as these days grow shorter and we tumble ever closer to Advent.

Atrium Blessings

Being back in the atrium with the younger children brings such sweet treasures. The first few sessions are often a bit chaotic as the children learn to separate from parents, get to know the rythm of atrium life, and orient themselves to this new space. Much of our time is spent with practical life, a way for the child to gain motor skills, independence and the ability to focus for longer periods of time. It never fails to fascinate me how still they are as they work.

C was a young 3 year old when she began atrium in the spring of last year. She is a joyful child and often spent her session chattering in a mix of English and Spanish that we didn't quite understand. Her favorite materials to work with were the Good Shepherd, the Visitation, and the Last Supper. At first I was a bit hesitant to show her such big works, yet she had her own unique way of engaging with them. We'd often see her, book in hand, chattering as she read a page before pausing to move the materials.

I was happy to see her back with us this year, the same joy, and now completely understandable. She was busy for most of today's session with practical life, yet toward the end asked me to read as she worked with the Last Supper. Before beginning, I reminded her to gather Jesus and two apostles from the basket - we generally start this way because the children are very meticulous about choosing who is Peter and John. We began the scripture and Peter and John dutifully prepared the room. Next we read, "As it grew dark, Jesus arrived with the twelve." I pause there so C can place the figures. After thoughtfully placing Jesus at the left side of the table, she began to set the apostles in front of the table. When she was done, she looked at them for a while and then announced, "Scoot, scoot, scoot," while placing some on the left side of the back table and leaving others at the left side of the front. She then turned them so they would each look at Jesus. While this was happening, one of our new children joined us. She is younger than C and reached for the figures. C looked at her briefly, but didn't say anything. I invited B to watch after confirming with C that this would be okay. C, having now moved everyone to the back of the table, was happy with where everyone was, so we read again. "He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, saying, take, this is my Body." C places the bread in J hands and then back on the paten. B looks quizzical. "In the same way, He took the cup...." Again, C places the chalice in Jesus' hands and then back on the table. B reaches in, takes the bread and offers it to each of the apostles. C watches for a couple of seconds before picking up the chalice and doing the same thing. Neither spoke, each intent on her work.

I left them to it, leaving the Garden of Olives for another day. Such a beautiful moment - such a beautiful gift! Thank you, Jesus <3

Praising Jesus...

...through our art:

...through our work:

...and through our meditations:

The Kingdom of God...

...is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with  three measures of flour until it was leavened through. Matthew 13:33

The children in the atrium spend quite a bit of time pondering this parable. Almost every session, a child will set up a work space, get the material from the shelf and ask Sarah to read the scripture before carefully measuring out three measures of flour into two glass bowls. One bowl will have a small measure of yeast added before mixing a bit of water into each bowl. They think about the yeast - could we take it back out? Can we still see it? What did Jesus mean by these words? How is the Kingdom like the leaven? They'll take the containers to the counter, cover them with a towel and mostly ignore them until the end of the session. When we gather for prayer, the child who's chosen the work will retrieve the bowls. We marvel at the overflowing bowl of the leavened dough and compare it to the unchanged dough in the other bowl. Again, we wonder what secret that reveals about the Kingdom of God - the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today, one of the children discovered that the leavened dough was stretchy and another discovered its stickiness. Their words caused me to contemplate God's tenacious love for us. Later I was reminded of the pervasiveness of yeast. This microscopic fungus happily migrates to affect its neighbors. Even wild yeast can be collected relatively easily. The Kingdom is here and all around us, affecting the world even when we don't see it. We know how this story ends and I am so very grateful.

Jerusalem

After years of procrastination, I finally tackled the topographical map of Jerusalem. It isn't meant to be a perfect replica, rather to convey the sense that Jerusalem had an upper and lower city, waterways, and important locations in the life of our Lord. The prior model was a plain wooden board that contained the outlines for the wooden models of the buildings and walls, as seen in the upper photo. It was a magnet, especially for little boys, who treated it as a puzzle. In the atrium, materials are to invite meditation not to elicit a particular skill, so I knew I had work to do. The children were instantly drawn to our new work, and have really displayed a surprising gentleness.

Today, I was fascinated by an almost four year old who very meticulously placed the various pieces from the relief map to the mute map. She talked to herself the entire time, and clearly knew the name of each piece and what it represented. We give many of the presentations to the children individually, and for the past few weeks she's stopped by to observe for a few minutes when I was giving the presentation to others, but never chose to have it presented herself. Clearly she took it all in in her own time. Another reminder that there is only one true Teacher in the atrium :-)

For more information on this work, you can check out the parent resources at the national association.

We are called by name...

During our last atrium session, a child asked the catechist to present the Good Shepherd. One of the Montessori precepts is keeping movement and talking separate. Thus, we read and then pause when the child moves the material. In the atrium, the figure of the Good Shepherd is kept standing in the sheepfold and the sheep are in a box when the material is not in use. Generally the children begin the Good Shepherd work by taking the sheep out of their box and placing them in the sheepfold with the shepherd, and then the catechist begins to proclaim the scripture. This time, the child set up the work by placing all the sheep on the outside of the sheepfold and waited for the catechist to join her.

"The Good Shepherd calls his own sheep by name..." 

Only then did she move the sheep into the fold.


As I was reflecting on the small difference in the way the child interacted with the material, I was struck by the truth of that moment. Our name is proclaimed at our Baptism and then we become part of the fold. Once again, a child revealed the truth of our faith to me. Thank you, Good Shepherd, for the gift of the child.