ECCE 2013

Lasse Halme

ECCE 2013

Lasse Halme

Holiness in Children’s MinistryHoliness in Children’s Ministry

What is holy for me?

• Think of a situation or place or time which was holy for you– What made it holy?– What is holiness compared to normal

everyday life?

What is holy?

• Something more than normal experience

• Something very important

• Shakes the foundations of life

• Encountering another person, nature, art

• Birth and death

• Something that is important to me

Why do we talk about holiness?

• The basic feature of God and the basic concept of religion

• The church’s common theme in Finland 2010-2012

• Our ecological situation and climate change

• Absence of holiness in an increasingly everyday life

• Children’s right to holiness

Loss of holiness

• Economy: everything is part of the system and for sale

– People lose their humanity: a resource

– Nature loses its value: raw material

• People can take control over holiness

– Religious communities can cause damage by overemphasising its own holiness

Rudolf Otto: Holiness

• The basic concept of religion, expressing the transcendence of God

• A mystery with two sides

- Shuddering and frightening

- Fascinating and attractive(Mysterium tremendum et fascinosum)

I – you, not I – it- Subjects encountering each other, not subject - object

Paul Tillich: Ultimate Concern

1. That which is most important for us

2. The ultimate in being and meaning

•Holiness is the qualitative name for ultimate concern

•Subjective and objective sides: the human experience and the views of religion

Holy, profane, demonic (Tillich)

HolyPoints beyond itself to the divine ground

Expresses transcendence

ProfaneDoes not point beyond itself

No holiness in life

DemonicDoes not point beyond itselfConsiders itself to be holy

Transparency, ”shining through”

• The holy and divine ground of Being ”shines through” the human

• Cf. Orthodox icons• The human and temporal become transparent and

the deeper and eternal dimension of life opens up• The mystery in life• We can see it in Jesus’ life, which expresses God’s

reality through a man: – Jesus-who-is-Christ

Saints and sinners

• Things cannot be strictly divided into holy and unholy

• Holiness is in all of us if it can manifest itself• We are saints and sinners at the same

time(Luther)

Another view: Strict separation of holy from unholy

HOLY UNHOLY

Traditional view of holiness in religious studies

Holiness is:

•Separated from the everyday

•Dedicated to God

•Removed from ordinary use

•Mana (power), taboo (forbidden)

•It is possible to separate holy from unholy

•Concreteness: a place, time, book, object, group

Holiness in the Old Testament

Holy things:

A place, oil, mission, name, God, clothes, dishes, tribe, city, sabbath, temple, heaven, king, seat, ark, promise, Moses, words, war, stones, sacrifice, covenant, trees

•God - Places, objects, times•Tribe, nation, Israel•Priests, temple, rituals, religion

•Holiness is separated from daily life - TRADITIONAL VIEW OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Prophets

• “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your worthless assemblies..” [Isaiah 1:13]

• Bringing about justice and criticising hypocricy

• Widening views beyond one’s own people: Not only Israel but the whole world is God’s

Jesus

• You can do good things on Sabbath: people are more important than holy tradition – people are holy

• Freedom concerning traditional rules but deep commitment to God

• Conflict with religious rulers• “God’s kingdom is among you/in you”

Jesus’ vision: Kingdom of God (Räisänen)

• The Kingdom of God was the center of Jesus’ work and preaching

• Many possibilities for interpretation• Freedom concerning rules, inner commitment• God’s will and ethical righteousness• The hierarchy in the Kingdom of God: the first

shall be last

The child in the middle of the Kingdom

• Jesus put the child in the center• The child expresses the reality and hierarchy of the

Kingdom• God’s Kingdom is in the middle of life, not

separable• The child expresses God’s Kingdom and holiness• Jesus gave us an example of encountering

children: we should take them into our arms and bless them

Holiness of the child

The New Testament: the Holy Spirit

– The Holy Spirit does not appear clearly until the New Testament

– Holiness is separated from concrete objects and rituals

– Possibility for new insights and changes in tradition

– All peoples and languages under God’s influence

Holiness ruled by the church

• In the Middle Ages, the development of Christendom meant that holy was controlled by the church

• The traditional and Old Testament view: Holy separated from the secular

• Holy times, places, objects, priests, people – even holy war

• Luther: the Protestant principle• Reformations in the churches

• The church must be the servant of holiness, not its owner

Holy, profane, demonic (Tillich)

HolyPoints beyond itself to the divine ground

Expresses transcendence

ProfaneDoes not point beyond itself

No holiness in life

DemonicDoes not point beyond itselfConsiders itself to be holy

The church does not rule the holiness

• The church hides and destroys that which is holy if it thinks that it owns it

• We are always receivers when encountering God’s holiness and mercy

• The church is the servant of holiness

God and the congregation?

O O O O O O O

O O O O O O O

O O O O O O O

O O O O O O O

O O O O O O O

God and the congregation

O

O

OO O

O

O

O

OO

New spirituality challenges the separation between holy and secular

Gordon Lynch, The New Spirituality: An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century

• Progressive trends in different religions1. Belief in an immanent divine unity that cares for

and upholds the cosmos (pantheism/panentheism).

2. Sacralization of nature3. Sacralization of the human self4. Finding religious truths both inside and outside

religious traditions

God’s Kingdom challenges the new spirituality

• God’s Kingdom is among you/in you• God’s Kingdom is ethically righteous• God’s Kingdom is free with regard to

religious traditions but inwardly committed – liturgy as a Holy Play

• God’s Kingdom seeks the will of God and is bound to it as Jesus showed us and was himself

• In God’s Kingdom, the child goes first, and the Kingdom of God is good for the child

Human holiness

Spirit

Mind

Heart Body PhysicalSocialEmotional

CognitiveSpiritual

How do we encounter holiness: religious symbols

God

Symbol

People

God is holy and transcendentMystery

Encountering holinessPrayer

Holiness shines throughthe symbols

The church – a place for encountering holiness

Jesus

•A man in whose life God’s holiness ”shines through”

Word of God and sacraments

•God’s holiness ”shines through” the words and symbols

The church as a community

•God’s holiness ”shines through” people’s actions as love and mercy

Home as a place for holiness

• Members of the family

– God’s love ”shines through” the relationships

• Ordinary and special times of the week and year

– Holiness ”shines through” the normal life and the special times of the year

• Holy moments at home: birth, death, marriage, confirmation school…

- Holiness ”shines through” the rituals and symbols

The child and holiness

• If we love the child, we will help him/her to encounter holiness– Support for growth, spirituality and a good life

• The child learns to see his/her worth in God’s eyes – support for conscience and self-esteem

• The child has a community– Support for social life and responsibility

• In the child, holiness shines through to us– The greatest in the Kingdom of God is like a child

Experiencing holiness with the child• We respect and value the child• The child is involved in the activity• We engage dialogue with the child, asking, listening,

reflecting• We understand the wholeness of the child: physical,

cognitive, socio-emotional, spiritual• We use child-appropriate methods: movement, study, artistic

expression and play• We make things possible for the child and guide him/her• We grow together with the child• We encounter holiness together

Questions

• How can we encounter holiness together with the child?

• What can we learn about holiness from the child?