One question he had that I wasn't sure how to respond to regarding other groups of people's beliefs about creation was, "How do we know our story of creation is the right one?" How do you recommend responding to this?
Well, honestly, I respond to that sort of question with 'We don't'. I think part of the freedom God gives us is that They don't overpower us with Proof with a capital P, and so I think it's kind of a bad idea to tell kids that we have Proof what we believe is true.
What we do have is stories we believe are trustworthy, from the Bible and from our own lives and from friends and family who also trust Jesus, and have found Jesus to be trustworthy. Storytelling and space for questions gets us further in the long run, though it can be admittedly unsatisfying to kids in the moment when they want that more definitive kind of answer, for sure.
Meredith, this is exactly what I need for myself and my kiddos. Question about some language: I’ve been reading a lot about the indigenous perspective about humans’ place in the world (Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer Wall is outstanding) and one topic I’ve heard a bunch about is that the idea of humans “governing” creation creates a hierarchy and is deeply rooted in colonialism and white supremacy (some things and therefore some people) are good and others are bad/leas valuable. Do you see a way to talk about humans being God’s image bearers and the job They gave us in a way that does not place humans above the rest of creation?
I love this question! So first, yes, you can always lean into language around care, sharing, and teaching 'stewarding' (as in, it does not belong to us) as a vocab word. What I'd say is that all of those actually are companions to the idea of "ruling" (literal in Hebrew) the world, not competitor terms.
To your broader point, hierarchical governing is not part of the Genesis story, it's inserted.** And whenever the text has been hijacked for the purposes of power and domination, we are invited to bring those words (or themes or stories, as the case may be) back home to the story. So if the marginalized, small community of Hebrews meant 'ruling' in ways that were harmonious and mutual (because that matches God), we lean in to that. (And this would be a place where indigenous communities help us catch a vision for what that actually means, looks like, how it operates. We can follow their lead.)
**This also jumps us to Genesis 3, where part of the point is that when power and domination enter the scene, we know things have gone deeply wrong. The Gen 1/Gen 3 contrast is a mutually connected creation that's ordered vs a disconnected creation that's chaotic and misusing power in an attempt to regain control.
Thank you for this point of view! I'm so glad to hear something that incorporates how Christians can believe in evolution and also not mention anything about how God made man and women to be certain things (I think you can tell which Christian world I came from lol). Such a breath of fresh air.
Yay! I'm so glad! I kinda think God made men and women to be...human, together. And I'm real tired of people reading patriarchy into stories where the actual story points in the opposite direction, or where any patriarchy that's there is down to the humans messing things up, not God.
Just curious-- why do you not get into how God created the "spaces" of light/dark, sky/sea, land/trees, and then filled each space in the second half of the story? Do you recommend that for older than elementary age?
Such a good question! We do nod to that structure in the commentary page notes for the grownups, that days 1--4, 2--5, 3--6 line up in that way. My hope is that those commentary notes will be a good resource for you to 1) understand the story better, and 2) feel equipped to respond to questions your kids might ask and to add interesting details and ideas when you feel your kids would be ready for or interested in them. This is one of those stories where there is just SO MUCH that could be said, you kind of have to pick and choose!
One more thing! I think yes to that being older elem., not because it's 'hard', but because it's a way to do spiral learning and add depth. (Spiral learning elements also often help older kids not feel so "I've heard all this")
Really appreciate all of this! After doing this first week my son said, "That was fun, can we do another one?!", which is not his usual response, yay!
I am SO glad it connected for him!
One question he had that I wasn't sure how to respond to regarding other groups of people's beliefs about creation was, "How do we know our story of creation is the right one?" How do you recommend responding to this?
Well, honestly, I respond to that sort of question with 'We don't'. I think part of the freedom God gives us is that They don't overpower us with Proof with a capital P, and so I think it's kind of a bad idea to tell kids that we have Proof what we believe is true.
What we do have is stories we believe are trustworthy, from the Bible and from our own lives and from friends and family who also trust Jesus, and have found Jesus to be trustworthy. Storytelling and space for questions gets us further in the long run, though it can be admittedly unsatisfying to kids in the moment when they want that more definitive kind of answer, for sure.
Meredith, this is exactly what I need for myself and my kiddos. Question about some language: I’ve been reading a lot about the indigenous perspective about humans’ place in the world (Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer Wall is outstanding) and one topic I’ve heard a bunch about is that the idea of humans “governing” creation creates a hierarchy and is deeply rooted in colonialism and white supremacy (some things and therefore some people) are good and others are bad/leas valuable. Do you see a way to talk about humans being God’s image bearers and the job They gave us in a way that does not place humans above the rest of creation?
Hi Lela,
I love this question! So first, yes, you can always lean into language around care, sharing, and teaching 'stewarding' (as in, it does not belong to us) as a vocab word. What I'd say is that all of those actually are companions to the idea of "ruling" (literal in Hebrew) the world, not competitor terms.
To your broader point, hierarchical governing is not part of the Genesis story, it's inserted.** And whenever the text has been hijacked for the purposes of power and domination, we are invited to bring those words (or themes or stories, as the case may be) back home to the story. So if the marginalized, small community of Hebrews meant 'ruling' in ways that were harmonious and mutual (because that matches God), we lean in to that. (And this would be a place where indigenous communities help us catch a vision for what that actually means, looks like, how it operates. We can follow their lead.)
**This also jumps us to Genesis 3, where part of the point is that when power and domination enter the scene, we know things have gone deeply wrong. The Gen 1/Gen 3 contrast is a mutually connected creation that's ordered vs a disconnected creation that's chaotic and misusing power in an attempt to regain control.
So excited for this!!
This is amazing, Meredith! I’m so excited for this walkthrough!
Thank you for this point of view! I'm so glad to hear something that incorporates how Christians can believe in evolution and also not mention anything about how God made man and women to be certain things (I think you can tell which Christian world I came from lol). Such a breath of fresh air.
Yay! I'm so glad! I kinda think God made men and women to be...human, together. And I'm real tired of people reading patriarchy into stories where the actual story points in the opposite direction, or where any patriarchy that's there is down to the humans messing things up, not God.
Do you guys have a 2-5 year old equivalent? If not, do you see that in your future with your hopes/dreams/skills on your team?
Not at this point. But yes, I imagine we'll make something for that age range eventually!
Hi! What's the recommended age group for the GBBW curriculum? Seems like Elementary?
Thanks for the incredible resources, Books, and substack!
Yes, this is elementary age-range.
Do you have any thin for preschool 2-4 or 3-5 range?
Not yet, but we're working on it!
Thanks for your time and responses! Can’t wait!
Just curious-- why do you not get into how God created the "spaces" of light/dark, sky/sea, land/trees, and then filled each space in the second half of the story? Do you recommend that for older than elementary age?
Such a good question! We do nod to that structure in the commentary page notes for the grownups, that days 1--4, 2--5, 3--6 line up in that way. My hope is that those commentary notes will be a good resource for you to 1) understand the story better, and 2) feel equipped to respond to questions your kids might ask and to add interesting details and ideas when you feel your kids would be ready for or interested in them. This is one of those stories where there is just SO MUCH that could be said, you kind of have to pick and choose!
One more thing! I think yes to that being older elem., not because it's 'hard', but because it's a way to do spiral learning and add depth. (Spiral learning elements also often help older kids not feel so "I've heard all this")
Sorry if this was mentioned somewhere and I missed it, but what'd be the minimum age you'd recommend for this story telling?
This whole series will be aimed for ages 5-11. However, creation specifically is an all-age story.