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A conversation starter
I’m always open to having a dialogue with my children to help them understand how to apply Christian Science in everyday life. I know they’re learning about God in Christian Science Sunday School, but they rarely talk to me about what they’ve discussed in class.
For a while, when my oldest son, who was six at the time, asked me questions about life, I would give him a human explanation. Then I would talk to him about the spiritual reality. Soon he began to cut me off by saying, “You always speak ‘spiritual’, ” making quotes with his fingers. I found it upsetting that he was refusing to listen or engage in this type of conversation with me. I thought that if I didn’t help him see that Life was limitless and not material, no one else would. I began praying to know how to speak to my son so that he wouldn’t shut out good ideas.
While I didn’t know it at the time, my spiritual lesson began one day when my sons were watching a Veggie Tales cartoon movie about a boy who told a lie. The boy was encouraged by a little character named Fib to tell the lie to evade punishment. When it appeared the lie was a success and had prevented him from getting into trouble, the boy was pleased. However, tempted by Fib, the boy continued lying to cover up his first lie. Every time the boy listened to Fib and told another lie, Fib grew bigger and bigger. Eventually, Fib became the size of a monster that was terrorizing the town. It was at that point that the boy knew he needed to be brave and tell the truth. The boy no longer let Fib influence him. Each time the boy told the truth, Fib shrank a bit until he disappeared. The image of this huge monster shrinking to nothing was very vivid. The kids enjoyed the movie.
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