The Games That Kids Play

I try to occasionally post cute stories of my son, mostly because it helps solidify the story in my brain. I am terrible when it comes to telling stories on the spot. Or sometimes, even answering a simple question ("What of ice cream do you like, Sharon?"... "uh...").

No more tangents, sorry. My son has been really getting into making up games (one of the reasons I love 3+ year olds). Some of them make no sense to me. Some of them are stories with his animals talking to each other. And others deal with complex liturgical issues.

Like today, for instance. He found some polished rocks and half-used, maroon-colored tea lights in one of the rooms of the house we are staying in. He started playing with them on the floor of my mother-in-law's room while we sat on the bed and chatted. All of the sudden, he comes up to the bed, gives Jeannette a rock and, in the most somber voice possible, says "The body of Christ bread of our Lord in heaven for our trespasses." Then he gives me one, says something similar, and then brings over the candles "The wine of Christ given from our Father in heaven." Jeannette and I looked at each other and it was all we could do to keep from cracking up! It makes me wonder, though, what he's thinking during all those times we've taken communion. He obviously has been paying attention, because he can recite the Lord's Prayer along with everyone else, but does it make any sense to him? We've explained communion as the time that we take special bread that Jesus gave us. It's a rather vague explanation, but it satisfies a three year old (I'm not quite prepared tackle theological arguments for and against transubstantiation just yet).

Part of me believes that he plays games like this because they deal with familiar elements, and the idea of doing the same liturgy every Sunday is, in a way, comforting to him. I like how he can participate with the recitations, and I know he enjoys them too. Who knows, maybe he's on his way to becoming a priest!