Sunday School in the Single Digits

Yesterday morning was my turn to help in Annie's Sunday School class. Usually, this involves a lot of stapling, gluing, herding children from classroom to gathering hallway and back, and a variety of frantic tasks with 10-12 three-year-olds. Even though it's nice to be there with Annie, I'd frankly rather be spending a quiet hour in church, possibly getting something out of the service.

So, why rush out of the house on those freezing Sunday mornings to get Annie to Sunday School? I've always thought it had something to do with "setting an example," or, maybe "starting a life-long good habit;" these are reasons my parents always gave me. But they felt a little empty: why do something just to show you should? Why start a habit for no reason? And then I read this passage, written by Anne Lamott (a favorite of mine), and I knew I had to write it down somewhere to remind myself why I'm making the effort. It's from a chapter entitled, "Why I Make Sam Go to Church:"

"The main reason is that I want to give him what I found in the world, which is to say a path and a little light to see by. Most of the people I know who have what I want - which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy - are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith; they are Buddhists, Jews, Christians - people banding together to work on themselves and for human rights. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful. I saw something once from the Jewish Theological Seminary that said, "A human life is like a single letter of the alphabet. It can be meaningless. Or it can be a part of a great meaning." Our little church is filled with people who are working for peace and freedom, who are out there on the streets and inside praying, and they are home writing letters, and they are at the shelters with their giant platters of food."

Now, for me, this is not 100% true. I have some dear friends who are generous and joyful and purposeful without having darkened the door of a church in months or years. And I could also list off 10 or 20 people who managed to be mean-spirited, tight-fisted, and selfish while attending church faithfully each week. But still, this is the gift I want to pass on to my children - the feeling of belonging someplace safe and of being part of something bigger than themselves that will guide their choices in the years to come. Meaning. Balance. Gratitude. Good goals, I think.