Creation Collage

Yesterday was my first day working with middle school campers at Lutheridge.  I am a volunteer this week, the last week of camp, and I'm one of a 2 person Bible study team.  We have some curriculum that was given to us, along with a story book for each day.  Yesterday I talked about how we could create curriculum if we had to, and yesterday tested that capacity.

We began with the first creation story in Genesis, and I brought up the fact that there are two creation stories.  In this one, God declares all of creation good and very good--it's not the Adam and Eve story.  It was clear we were racing through what we had planned, and we might finish 50 minutes early--not cool.  So, I looked out beyond the circle of chairs, thinking about what we might do.

I gave the campers a task and boundaries, to go out and collect 3 items from nature, without yanking or pulling up anything and to bring them back to make a joint collage.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was fairly sure this group could be trusted not to run off into the road or jump in the nearby lake.

They had plenty on the ground to choose from, and they came back with a variety of sticks, leaves, and rocks.  I had them gather around part of the concrete floor, and they took turns.  For round 1, everyone put down one object.  For round two, they could put down 1 object and move one object, and the same for round three.  We ended up with a collage that looked like this:

I asked them what they saw.  Then I had them take 7 steps in a different direction and say what they saw.  It's interesting, what a change in perspective can do:

Then I tied it back to the creation story and God.  What does this kind of creation tell us about those of us who created it?  If we were aliens arriving on this planet, and all we had was this, what would we think about the ones who had made it?  We talked about the big bang and the fact that we're made out of star dust that has been around since the big bang--and did the big bang make us or did God?  Does the process make us or does the creator?

I think it went well, but I'm OK with the fact that I'll never know.  I hope that they remember that they are loved.  It's clear that they've already been introduced to the concept of sin and worthlessness.  Hopefully they'll remember a different aspect of God.