ecce 2013 lasse halme ecce 2013 lasse halme holiness in children’s ministry
TRANSCRIPT
ECCE 2013
Lasse Halme
ECCE 2013
Lasse Halme
Holiness in Children’s MinistryHoliness in Children’s Ministry
What is holy for me?
• Think of a situation or place or time which was holy for you– What made it holy?– What is holiness compared to normal
everyday life?
What is holy?
• Something more than normal experience
• Something very important
• Shakes the foundations of life
• Encountering another person, nature, art
• Birth and death
• Something that is important to me
Why do we talk about holiness?
• The basic feature of God and the basic concept of religion
• The church’s common theme in Finland 2010-2012
• Our ecological situation and climate change
• Absence of holiness in an increasingly everyday life
• Children’s right to holiness
Loss of holiness
• Economy: everything is part of the system and for sale
– People lose their humanity: a resource
– Nature loses its value: raw material
• People can take control over holiness
– Religious communities can cause damage by overemphasising its own holiness
Rudolf Otto: Holiness
• The basic concept of religion, expressing the transcendence of God
• A mystery with two sides
- Shuddering and frightening
- Fascinating and attractive(Mysterium tremendum et fascinosum)
I – you, not I – it- Subjects encountering each other, not subject - object
Paul Tillich: Ultimate Concern
1. That which is most important for us
2. The ultimate in being and meaning
•Holiness is the qualitative name for ultimate concern
•Subjective and objective sides: the human experience and the views of religion
Holy, profane, demonic (Tillich)
HolyPoints beyond itself to the divine ground
Expresses transcendence
ProfaneDoes not point beyond itself
No holiness in life
DemonicDoes not point beyond itselfConsiders itself to be holy
Transparency, ”shining through”
• The holy and divine ground of Being ”shines through” the human
• Cf. Orthodox icons• The human and temporal become transparent and
the deeper and eternal dimension of life opens up• The mystery in life• We can see it in Jesus’ life, which expresses God’s
reality through a man: – Jesus-who-is-Christ
Saints and sinners
• Things cannot be strictly divided into holy and unholy
• Holiness is in all of us if it can manifest itself• We are saints and sinners at the same
time(Luther)
Another view: Strict separation of holy from unholy
HOLY UNHOLY
Traditional view of holiness in religious studies
Holiness is:
•Separated from the everyday
•Dedicated to God
•Removed from ordinary use
•Mana (power), taboo (forbidden)
•It is possible to separate holy from unholy
•Concreteness: a place, time, book, object, group
Holiness in the Old Testament
Holy things:
A place, oil, mission, name, God, clothes, dishes, tribe, city, sabbath, temple, heaven, king, seat, ark, promise, Moses, words, war, stones, sacrifice, covenant, trees
•God - Places, objects, times•Tribe, nation, Israel•Priests, temple, rituals, religion
•Holiness is separated from daily life - TRADITIONAL VIEW OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Prophets
• “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your worthless assemblies..” [Isaiah 1:13]
• Bringing about justice and criticising hypocricy
• Widening views beyond one’s own people: Not only Israel but the whole world is God’s
Jesus
• You can do good things on Sabbath: people are more important than holy tradition – people are holy
• Freedom concerning traditional rules but deep commitment to God
• Conflict with religious rulers• “God’s kingdom is among you/in you”
Jesus’ vision: Kingdom of God (Räisänen)
• The Kingdom of God was the center of Jesus’ work and preaching
• Many possibilities for interpretation• Freedom concerning rules, inner commitment• God’s will and ethical righteousness• The hierarchy in the Kingdom of God: the first
shall be last
The child in the middle of the Kingdom
• Jesus put the child in the center• The child expresses the reality and hierarchy of the
Kingdom• God’s Kingdom is in the middle of life, not
separable• The child expresses God’s Kingdom and holiness• Jesus gave us an example of encountering
children: we should take them into our arms and bless them
Holiness of the child
The New Testament: the Holy Spirit
– The Holy Spirit does not appear clearly until the New Testament
– Holiness is separated from concrete objects and rituals
– Possibility for new insights and changes in tradition
– All peoples and languages under God’s influence
Holiness ruled by the church
• In the Middle Ages, the development of Christendom meant that holy was controlled by the church
• The traditional and Old Testament view: Holy separated from the secular
• Holy times, places, objects, priests, people – even holy war
• Luther: the Protestant principle• Reformations in the churches
• The church must be the servant of holiness, not its owner
Holy, profane, demonic (Tillich)
HolyPoints beyond itself to the divine ground
Expresses transcendence
ProfaneDoes not point beyond itself
No holiness in life
DemonicDoes not point beyond itselfConsiders itself to be holy
The church does not rule the holiness
• The church hides and destroys that which is holy if it thinks that it owns it
• We are always receivers when encountering God’s holiness and mercy
• The church is the servant of holiness
God and the congregation?
O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O
God and the congregation
O
O
OO O
O
O
O
OO
New spirituality challenges the separation between holy and secular
Gordon Lynch, The New Spirituality: An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century
• Progressive trends in different religions1. Belief in an immanent divine unity that cares for
and upholds the cosmos (pantheism/panentheism).
2. Sacralization of nature3. Sacralization of the human self4. Finding religious truths both inside and outside
religious traditions
God’s Kingdom challenges the new spirituality
• God’s Kingdom is among you/in you• God’s Kingdom is ethically righteous• God’s Kingdom is free with regard to
religious traditions but inwardly committed – liturgy as a Holy Play
• God’s Kingdom seeks the will of God and is bound to it as Jesus showed us and was himself
• In God’s Kingdom, the child goes first, and the Kingdom of God is good for the child
Human holiness
Spirit
Mind
Heart Body PhysicalSocialEmotional
CognitiveSpiritual
How do we encounter holiness: religious symbols
God
Symbol
People
God is holy and transcendentMystery
Encountering holinessPrayer
Holiness shines throughthe symbols
The church – a place for encountering holiness
Jesus
•A man in whose life God’s holiness ”shines through”
Word of God and sacraments
•God’s holiness ”shines through” the words and symbols
The church as a community
•God’s holiness ”shines through” people’s actions as love and mercy
Home as a place for holiness
• Members of the family
– God’s love ”shines through” the relationships
• Ordinary and special times of the week and year
– Holiness ”shines through” the normal life and the special times of the year
• Holy moments at home: birth, death, marriage, confirmation school…
- Holiness ”shines through” the rituals and symbols
The child and holiness
• If we love the child, we will help him/her to encounter holiness– Support for growth, spirituality and a good life
• The child learns to see his/her worth in God’s eyes – support for conscience and self-esteem
• The child has a community– Support for social life and responsibility
• In the child, holiness shines through to us– The greatest in the Kingdom of God is like a child
Experiencing holiness with the child• We respect and value the child• The child is involved in the activity• We engage dialogue with the child, asking, listening,
reflecting• We understand the wholeness of the child: physical,
cognitive, socio-emotional, spiritual• We use child-appropriate methods: movement, study, artistic
expression and play• We make things possible for the child and guide him/her• We grow together with the child• We encounter holiness together
Questions
• How can we encounter holiness together with the child?
• What can we learn about holiness from the child?