Originally published on December 18, 2016.
My daughter was assigned the role of Mary, mother of Jesus, in the church Sunday School Christmas program this morning.
When I reminded her it was today, she touched her hair still in braids from the night before, "oh I forgot.... well I hope Mary had curly hair.... curly blonde hair??"
I laughed, " um, no. Mary was not blonde-haired blue-eyed with pale skin...."
She looked at me confused. She said, "but that doesn't make sense since Jesus was...."
And so I explained to her and her brother. I explained what people who lived in the time and place of Jesus looked like. We looked up pictures.
She was confused, "but how come in the pictures I always see he doesn't look like that." And so we talked about how when people first began to make depictions of Jesus they made him look like themselves, everyone wants to see themselves in God. I pointed to the different nativity sets we have depicting people from different places and cultures.
And we talked about how why the blonde-haired, blue-eyed depictions of Jesus persist today and why that matters, what it says about and informs how we view the "other", and what is our responsibility in light of that...
When we finished talking, my son said "thanks for the pep talk, now can we have breakfast?" Of course. They are used to me and my "pep talks". But I can see that it sinks in, and it informs how they process the world around them, how they begin to become more aware of their own privilege and think about the lives they are called to lead in this world.
We ate breakfast, headed to church, and my transgender daughter played the role of Mary beautifully... seeing herself in the story of Jesus's birth.
#raisethemright #ourstoriesmatter#welcomingchurch #transkids
My daughter was assigned the role of Mary, mother of Jesus, in the church Sunday School Christmas program this morning.
When I reminded her it was today, she touched her hair still in braids from the night before, "oh I forgot.... well I hope Mary had curly hair.... curly blonde hair??"
I laughed, " um, no. Mary was not blonde-haired blue-eyed with pale skin...."
She looked at me confused. She said, "but that doesn't make sense since Jesus was...."
And so I explained to her and her brother. I explained what people who lived in the time and place of Jesus looked like. We looked up pictures.
She was confused, "but how come in the pictures I always see he doesn't look like that." And so we talked about how when people first began to make depictions of Jesus they made him look like themselves, everyone wants to see themselves in God. I pointed to the different nativity sets we have depicting people from different places and cultures.
And we talked about how why the blonde-haired, blue-eyed depictions of Jesus persist today and why that matters, what it says about and informs how we view the "other", and what is our responsibility in light of that...
When we finished talking, my son said "thanks for the pep talk, now can we have breakfast?" Of course. They are used to me and my "pep talks". But I can see that it sinks in, and it informs how they process the world around them, how they begin to become more aware of their own privilege and think about the lives they are called to lead in this world.
We ate breakfast, headed to church, and my transgender daughter played the role of Mary beautifully... seeing herself in the story of Jesus's birth.
#raisethemright #ourstoriesmatter#welcomingchurch #transkids
ความคิดเห็น
แสดงความคิดเห็น