Prayer Squares

Before we get too far away from Sunday, let me make a post about the prayer squares that I made for the youth on Sunday.

In some ways, it began 2 weeks ago, when I didn't want to create a children's sermon about the beheading of John the Baptist.  I decided to create a 3 week series on prayer practices that would culminate in the Blessing of the Backpack service.

Two weeks ago, I talked about prayers we already knew, like the Lord's Prayer.  On July 21, I came prepared with bags of beads and yarn and lanyard plastic.  I talked about prayer beads and rosaries and gave them each a sandwich bag of supplies to make their own set of prayer beads, and I talked about prayer being a friendship bracelet with God.

On July 28, I brought the prayer square that I got earlier this summer when I was at LTSS for the last onground intensive that would be held at Southern.  

I talked about the square reminding us that people are praying for us, along with threads so that we could add our own prayers, maybe with a knot to remind us, and to remind us of how prayer stitches communities together.

And then I offered the basket to have each youth pick a square, and we talked about ways they could be used.  I talked about the symbols they would see on the front and back of the squares:  life preservers, fish, lighthouses, and compass points.  Each square has long strands on each corner; they can be knotted or braided together or cut off the quilted square, if it was too distracting.

My spouse and I talked about whether or not any of our childhood churches had talked about prayer practices or other types of spiritual disciplines, and we couldn't remember much that was practical.  To be fair, we really couldn't remember much at all, and it is getting to be a long time ago.  In Confirmation class, we talked about the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, but we didn't spend much time thinking/talking about what it meant to our everyday lives.

I do realize that the children I encounter may not remember the tools I'm trying to give them, but that's O.K.  Hopefully they'll remember that there were adults along the way who stressed God's love for us and ways we could remember that love when the world doesn't always make it easy.