NOT JUST A NURSERY SCHOOL RHYME !!!!!
I received this by e-mail today and thought it was important to share with anyone who might come across this....My child is playing today at preschool, UNAWARE of the dangers that is occuring in this world today.. I agree with this, and hope that all YOUR CHILDREN are safe & covered by God's grace & Love! click n' read
posted by Dina @ 12:32 PM
9 Comments:
dina..i can't wait to meet Mary..to talk to her...when I had my first child that is when I sat down and wept for Mary..
Dina ... This worries me ... I am a fierce advocate of all things spiritual - it goes with the job. But I am NOT one who believes that the Christian religion should have precedent.
By all means let's teach our children to pray ... but teach them to pray to God in God's fullness ... use the names Jesus, Shiva, Yahweh, Allah, Ganesh ... and teach them tolerance for faith ...
Man, I don't know rev. shawn. I believe in tolerance and love but when it comes to my own and my children's faith, I want them to believe in Truth.
rev shawn- to use the names Jesus,Shiva,Yahweh,Allah, Ganesh means that I follow ALL of them & their beliefs.....as for ME & MY HOUSE...WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!!!
Jesus is Lord!!
Candy-Thank you & I agree
With all due respect to Rev. Shawn, love and tolerance are beautiful but what worries me is that in being a fierce advocate of all things spiritual, it would seem that you don't really stand for one thing? That's scary to me..
Jesus is the only one who hung on a cross, died, and rose again, promising eternal and abundant life to those who believe. In Colossians 2:9, in speaking of Jesus, Paul says "For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." It's worth investigating the claims and prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, the person He said He was...not a religious system.
That said, I am not one to shove "religion" down anyone's throat. The Truth and proof will prevail and speak for itself or Himself (smile). I'm with Dina here, believer's should be able to bring their faith back to school ! with love and hugs.....
If I may, I think the point that Reverend Shawn makes has been missed. It seems that what he's saying is, if you enforce prayer in schools, then it must, and should include all religions, not just Christianity.
I live in New York City, and at the end of the day when I pick up my child from school, the parents that wait beside me on the schoolyard are Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jews. From what I know of Reverend Shawn, he is a Methodist, but to quote his comment, he says, "I am not one who believes that the Christian religion should have precedent." I certainly didn’t read anything in his words that implied Christians should not be exclusively Christian, or that Christians should embrace all religions as their own. What he did say was “…teach them TOLERENCE for faith,” and hey, who can argue with that?
Reverend Shawn simply addresses the subject of Christian prayer in schools, schools where children of varying faiths all deserve equal respect.
Whether the parents on the schoolyard were born in the U.S., India or the Middle East, all of their children are Americans, and as Americans we are given the freedom to practice our faith freely, and with dignity. My daughter is Jewish, asking her to pray to Jesus in her school would be as appropriate as asking a Christian child to pray to Allah.
And I must address Tami here, why would a man, (Rev. Shawn,) who stands for more than just one thing scare you? What’s more scary to me, in fact what’s TERRIFYING to me, are those who stand for ONLY for one thing. All we have to do is look back in history, to the present day as well, and we can see much bloodshed at the hands of men who stood, and stand for only ONE thing. (Should I name names?)
I have been reading Reverend Shawn’s blog for several months now, and from what I can tell he is a perfect example of what Jesus would want all of us to be: compassionate, loving, and tolerant.
Itzktb, thank you for your beautifully expressed post !
Perhaps, I interpreted the poem wrong. I didn't see it as the Christian religion taking precedence...just allowing God back into places He's been kicked out.
I can see what you say about the enforcement of prayer in schools and respecting all faiths. It's seems that "religion" has given God, Who is love, a bad name. I sure don't want to be one of those people, so please forgive me if I came across that way.
About Rev. Shawn, let me re-word what I said, for him to be a fierce advocate of all things spiritual and then to make a statement to teach our children to pray to God in God's fullness...using the mentioned names...it disturbed me a little in the spiritual aspect of things, because I understood that to mean
that Rev. Shawn is a man of all faiths...I guess that was a little confusing to me. What does he believe?
I totally see what you say about the fanatics in history that have stood for ONE thing and no, names need mentioning...one stood out right away.
So, thanks for your brilliant insights. I wasn't as good as you in expressing my thoughts and I really appreciated yours. with love, tami
I think Tami hit the nail on the head...when I posted this, it wasn't to say " you MUST believe or give precedence to MY faith", but just that was once was there, is no longer....I didn't mean that everyone HAS to believe in Jesus, that poem just MOVED ME!! I did want to share it. I'm a BIG believer of " It's NOT WHAT you say, but HOW you SAY IT!! and I think that the last few post have cleared that up... Thank you!
Tami,
I find that if a discussion remains honest and open we will eventually find ourselves at a place of understanding. Thank you for helping take this dialogue to that place.
Rev. Shawn is a Methodist, but he doesn’t believe that his faith is the sole keeper of the Truth. He respects and values the abundant gifts of spiritual wisdom, even if they are found in faiths other than his own. (He has a blog entry today that addresses his beliefs in this area.)
As far as the intention of the poem, I hear and respect both your and Dina's sentiments. And perhaps readers like Rev. Shawn and myself thought the post implied Christianity taking precedence was because accompanying the poem was... a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross!
It's good to clear the air, and always good to laugh.
xoxox, Katie
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