"Am I saved?" "Is Jesus in my heart?" "Am I going to burn in hell?" Our children voice questions like these, stimulated by schoolmates who are "doctrinally aggressive". This office is hearing reports from DRE's, parents and teachers, who need help in teaching their children how to respond to playground proselytizers. Our children need information. Answers like "Saved from what?" or "Who is Jesus?" or "Where is hell?" only cause grief Our children deserve to be armed with answers. "Yes I'm saved. Are you?" could put an end to the conversation -- We can explain to our children that when we do kind deeds we are saved from feeling bad about ourselves. When we have good friends we are saved from loneliness.

"Jesus taught us to love our neighbor. Love is in my heart. Love is important." It is hard to argue with this statement. We can teach our children who Jesus was in history, and some of his values and teachings. "I don't believe in hell. God wouldn't hurt anybody. Not my God." This is straight Universalist doctrine, and good common-sense theology. It might start a child to thinking. Our children also wonder about very serious and thoughtful questions like "What is God?" or "Do we pray?" or "Where is Grandma now?" (after a death), "Is the Bible true?" or "Are we Christian?" They need concrete answers from parents. Or they decide that their questions AND the answers are not important. Please do not worry that your answers will "indocrinate them." Up to about Grade 6 YOU are the main voice of authority in their lives, and they need the security of knowing that you HAVE some answers, or are working on them. They will be at a disadvantage in our culture, if you give them nothing to start with in the way of beliefs.

I recall asking my mother "What is God?" There was great reassurance when she put her arms around me and said "Can you feel the love I have for you? You can't see it, but you can feel it. God is like that. God is love." Later, of course, I found that concept over-simplified, but as a child it was a great comfort. An excellent resource for parents is the UU curriculum Parents as Resident Theologians. In six sessions it helps us develop a personal theology, and a vocabulary for exploring and sharing our beliefs with children. For children there are a few sessions on Jesus in Timeless Themes and an excellent book by Sophia Fahs called Jesus the Carpenter's Son. The Church of the Larger Fellowship publishes Religious Education At Home, with excellent guidelines for talking about religion with children. As other good material comes to light I will describe it in this column. The search is on!