Week 8: Children in the Woods
The other morning while driving my children to school I said “wow, it’s foggy today!” It must be a sign of fall, because I haven’t seen that kind of morning fog in months. My son MD asked, “what’s foggy?” I responded, “You see that stuff in the air? That’s fog.” “Fog?” he asked again. “Yeah, it’s water in the air.” “It’s a foggy day,” he said. He likes to talk about the weather – it’s a sunny day, cloudy day, rainy day, etc. I told him it wouldn’t be foggy all day. Eventually the sun would come out and the fog would go away. Then we would be able to see farther, and see the top of tall buildings that were at the time obscured by the fog.
I realized in the course of the conversation that MD, as a four year old, was not really asking what fog IS, but rather what fog DOES. How do we experience fog? What do we see and not see? What is our relationship to the fog (and to the weather in general)? This realization – about the importance of the relationship between things and how we experience them with our senses – is what this week’s story is about.
After you listen, some questions for reflection…
- Have you ever had the experience of trying to help a child understand something, and finding your own perception deepened in the process?
- Have you ever stopped yourself from explaining something to your child with too many words, and instead asked them a question about what they were experiencing? What do you think you would find out?
- When you spend time with your child awake to what is around you in nature or whatever setting you’re in, how does that change the relationship between you?
The beloved UU hymn “Wake Now My Senses” ties in beautifully with this week’s story. Listen to a recording by First Unitarian Church of Oakland HERE.
Are you enjoying these weekly stories and reflections? I would love to hear from you! Email me, call (214-884-1202), or stop me on Sunday to share your experience.
With you on the adventure,
Rev. Beth
