The Light-Bearer in the Back Row

A gift of an unexpected story

Here is where the holy showed up one Sunday, and you know this is my All-Time Favorite Category of Stories, so buckle up—we’re going for a ride. Whenever we catch a glimpse of God, it is given to share, and I want to give this to you today. 

In my church I volunteer for Children’s Liturgy of the Word. Which means that one Sunday a month, I lead a gaggle of grade-schoolers out of the sanctuary and into the choir room where we read the readings and pray the prayers and ask lots of questions and generally have a good time. 

This morning the children settle into their chairs and I perch on a stool at the front of the room and ask who wants to help me light the candle. (I know I’m not supposed to do this; the candle should be lit by the adult; the children are supposed to stay in their seats; but some rules are meant to be broken, and I am always going to invite the image-bearers of the divine before me to help light the Christ light because they are drawn to the flame and aren’t we all?) 

I catch the eye of a soft-spoken girl with sweet bobbed hair and nod for her to come forward. We talk about batteries and matches, all the ways that candles can be lit, and then she flips the switch while I speak words I never tire of speaking: Jesus said “I am the Light of the World.” We enjoy the light, then get down to business breaking open the Word.

I assume nothing when talking about God-stuff with children or adults; neither do I try to talk down to those who know much. So I start with questions and offer whatever I might have to meet them. Today they have plenty, both questions and answers. First reading is from Exodus, so we talk about the Old Testament and what it must have felt like when God asked Abraham to leave his land and his people and go somewhere new. Then we talk about the New Testament and the time of Jesus and what today’s Gospel might tell us—and that’s when the hand shoots up from the back corner of the room, right across from me.