Last fall I took on teaching religious ed. My class is a rambunctious bunch of 1st graders who, much to my disappointment, are very smart. I thought that by teaching 1st grade I would have it easy. Well, I thought wrong.
They come up with some of the most difficult questions to answer. Like, "How does grass grow?" and "Why can't men have babies?" I'm just not intellectually equipped to know how grass grows and I'm not touching the men having babies thing. Not with 1st graders anyway. I have no desire to get stoned by parents.
My 1st graders are so much fun, though. They are filled with energy and that innocents that is gone in older kids. At around 7 years old, they still have an interest in church and God and praying and being good. They accept that there is a right and wrong, a good and bad. It's such a nice change from the many adult Catholics who don't care what the church teaches.
I hope that I am passing on more than just information about our faith. I hope that I am passing on my love and commitment to God as well. I pray that when they get older, that love of God will burn just as bright as it does now.
