FOR VERY YOUNG CHILDREN:
If you read the
Second Commandment to a very
young child, they will most likely not
be able to comprehend what
it means. So, it may be best to introduce the concept of it
in a more
concrete fashion. Here is one possible lesson leading up to the Second
Commandment:
Bring a small carved wooden animal to your class, or
home session. Set it out on the
table for the children to see, and
ask: "What is it?" Suppose you have a carved
elephant. You'll probably
get the response: "It's an elephant!" (or "it's an elephant,
dummy!")
Some bright child may tell you right away that it is a toy or statue,
but until
one of them does, prod the children with other questions
to get them to think about
what they are seeing:
"How do you know
it is an elephant?" "Have you seen one before?" "How is this
different?"
"Will it eat this peanut?" And so on. After you have exhausted this
line of
reasoning, everyone should be able to agree that it is
not a
real elephant. But what is
it? Ask the children to hold it and touch
it. Then ask the following: "What is it made
of?" "Where did the wood
come from?" "Is a tree an elephant?"
When it is established that the
elephant is made of wood (or whatever material your
animal is made
from), ask who or what has turned the block of wood into an elephant?
An artist; perhaps a woodcarver. Maybe a machine programmed by a skilled
technician.
Then write out the word "carve." Maybe you can find a
picture of a woodcarver or
sculptor at work. Write out the word "engraven."
Talk about how artists carve and
engrave the images of animals onto
a plain block of wood to create an image of an
elephant. Write out
the word "image" and show it to them.
By now, the children should
have a small concept of what a carved or graven image
might be, with
regard to idols or statues. You can point out that they have just
learned
that a carving is not the
real animal that it represents.
It might be beautiful or fun to
play with as a toy or art object,
but it is not a real elephant, which would have its own
special qualities,
the main one being
life!
Now, you might ask, "Where else might we
see images?" Pull out a small mirror.
Have each child look at themselves.
Ask which is the real [say name of a child]?
We'll use the name "Rachel"
as an example. "Is the child in the mirror, Rachel?"
"No! The girl
in the mirror is an
image of Rachel." Do this with all the children.
Go around once more and make sure the children understand that a carving,
or an
image of someone in a mirror, is not the same as the real thing.
Show them a short version of the Second Commandment: "Thou shalt not
make unto
thee any graven image." Explain that this is one of God's
Ten Commandments. He
does not want anyone making a graven image of
Him. He does not want anyone
making a graven image of any other creature
and calling it a god, either. That is a law!
You can ask, "Suppose
we wanted to make a carved image of God in spite of His law
against
it. What would God look like? What would we make from a block of wood?"
Lead their answers around to the fact that we do not know. God is
Spirit. He does not
have a physical or material body such as humans
have. We cannot see Him with our
eyes. However, God is many things
that we can learn to know. For instance, the Bible
tells us "God is
Love." Can we see Love? What does Love look like?
Lead them to see
that while we do not know what God as Love looks like, we can
feel
His Love, we can express love to others, and we can do good and loving
deeds.
For instance, helping our family with the chores is a good
deed which expresses love.
Being obedient to both God and our parents
is a way to show love. This love we
show is actually Love we reflect
from God. Like our images in the little mirror we
looked at, we are
made in the image and likeness of God. But it is not a physical body
that we reflect, but the spiritual character of God! "Love is reflected
in love," we
learn in the spiritual interpretation of the
Lord's Prayer found
in our textbook,
Science
and Health with Key to the Scriptures by
Mary Baker Eddy.
The Second Commandment, therefore, is a reminder
that God is Spirit only, not made
up of matter or evil or any bad
thing. And man, as His image and likeness, is only
spiritual, not
material. You might show them the "Scientific Statement of Being"
in
the textbook, which those in Sunday School hear read to them at
the end of the session.
To bring the lesson to a close, you might
hold up the carved, wooden elephant (or
whatever toy you have), and
ask, "So, if there was a contest to find the world's
strongest elephant,
would we enter this little fellow here?" "Would we take it to a
circus
and expect it to perform elephant tricks?" "No!" they will hopefully
respond.
"That's right, because it is only a graven image of an elephant.
It is not a real elephant!"
You might ask them to consider ways in
real life that we need to separate the real and
powerful from the
illusion of power: prayer versus pills; peacemaker versus fighting;
telling the truth versus lying to get us out of trouble, and so on.
A good Bible story that can bring out this Commandment is the story
of Noah's Ark.
God was not happy with the many people who were worshipping
idols, and He had to
put a stop to it. Noah was faithful to God, and
did not worship graven images, and so
God helped Noah prepare for
a time when He, God, would send a flood to separate
the good from
the evil. Noah and the animals (his qualities of thoughts) were protected
from the flood by the Ark. Not only must we not worship graven images,
but we must
actively worship, adore, and listen to God. His rainbow
in the sky was a promise that
He would not send another flood. However,
later, He had to give Moses, another great
friend of God, the Ten
Commandments, to remind the people they must be obedient.
At Halloween
time, you can bring up the Second Commandment again. Ask them when
they or their friends put on a Halloween mask or costume, which is
real? The person,
animal, character, or thing represented by the mask?
Or, the person underneath the
mask? If they can see the difference,
they can also be willing to see what God wants us
all to see: the
material body is not the real, spiritual man; and, the false concepts
about
God that would make Him material, do not represent Him, either.
God is Spirit; man is
spiritual -- no matter how many graven images
would say otherwise.
FOR OLDER CHILDREN:
Depending upon their level
of maturity and experience with the teachings of Christian
Science,
you can take lesson ideas from either the ones for the little children
above, or
from the general lessons on the
Second Commandment found
elsewhere.
Lessons for elementary-school age children might include
the following:
Show them the entire Second Commandment from Exodus
20, or at least the portion
that stops after the second colon. Explain
that symbolically the "heaven above," "the
earth beneath," and "the
water under the earth," may represent states and stages of
human consciousness.
The "water under the earth" may be the mortal subconscious,
which
we are not aware of, but which exerts a great deal of influence upon
our thinking
and actions, if we do not learn to handle its false influence.
Lots of "graven images"
develop and spring forth from the so-called
subconscious.
Discuss historical details about idols and idol worship
in the Bible. Look up Bible
stories in which idols played a role.
Discuss how the children of Israel, who were
with Moses in the desert,
returned to idol-worship when Moses took so long getting
back to them.
Discuss God as "the great I AM." He is not to be represented by any
object, or
worshipped by any material process. Think what that might
mean. For instance, is
just showing up at church, while spending time
thinking of what you're going to do
that afternoon, true worship?
Or, is an effort to seek fresh inspiration? Mary Baker
Eddy has a
number of citations referring to what true worship or divine service
is.
It has more to do with daily deeds than with the rituals of traditional
church activities.
This is an important point to discuss with kids
as they get older. They do see
hypocrisy in church members so clearly,
and they need to find out that, yes, true
worship is spiritual, and
we all must actively seek to do better and eliminate any
form of material
worship. It is a trap anyone call fall into, even them!
John has a
good statement on this in his book: "But the hour cometh, and now
is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and
in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit:
and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth."
The pupils must see, however, that it is not enough for them to go
around identifying
other church members as hypocrites. They must learn
what it takes to avoid doing the
same things -- only differently!
There are many avenues that hypocrisy and worship-
ping graven images
can take. It is a life-long struggle we must be alert to. We need
to
get into the habit of self-examination, and become aware of how
we worship and
adore God.
You can use the wind as an example in one
lesson (and this would also be good for
the little children, too).
If you can, go out and observe the wind. Otherwise, have
them imagine
a windy day. Note that we cannot see the actual wind. We can only
see
the effects of what it does. It makes the trees or leaves sway.
It sweeps away light
trash. It spreads the seeds of flowers. It clears
the air of pollution. It carries the
clouds away. The wind has a lot
of power. Just so, we do not see God with our
physical eyes, yet we
can see His power at work in our lives if we know how to
judge the
effects correctly. Ask the children for examples of what might be
God's
power at work in our lives. Remind them that God is Spirit,
and that the Second
Commandment tells us we do not have to materialize
God to worship Him. We
can be grateful for His mighty works and adore
Him, even without being able to
see Him physically.
Point out that
it is the devil, or "the accuser" as it is sometimes called, that
likes to
trick us into believing that God is human-like, rather than
the other way around.
Discuss the story of the serpent, and how he
tricked Eve into believing she could be
like God. The serpent, or
false suggestions that are whispered into our thoughts,
would try
to get us to carve new "graven images" in our thought, that God never
ordained. We must "stand porter at the door of thought" to protect
ourselves, and to
keep us from trying to label God with false, human
attributes, such as hate, revenge,
partiality.
Discuss how the media
of today bombards us with false images that may become
engraved in
our thoughts. Sex and violence on TV, movies, video, and computer
games would rob us of our peace and purity of mind. Commercials for
medicines
or other material aids for health would turn us away from
trust in God for our health
and harmony. Advertisements for all manner
of toys and gadgets, clothes and
accessories, would create an artificial
need for such things. We make them into
"other gods" that we worship
as "graven images" if we hand to these things a power
to make us happy
or sad.
Discuss the role of the five physical senses in creating "graven
images." Point out
that these material senses are misconceptions of
the true spiritual senses of Spirit
and Soul. The physical senses
would hypnotize us into believing that what they
experience is the
sole reality. They would create graven images for us to worship
or
fear. The pains and pleasures of these senses in the body really do
nothing but
enslave us. We must start training ourselves to look through
these lies, to our true
spiritual nature. We must affirm that there
is no sensation in matter. Only Spirit has
true substance, only Soul
has true feeling. Encourage them to include the "Scientific
Statement
of Being" in their daily prayers, and to work daily to deny the reality
of
matter and the five physical senses, which lie, lie, lie about
God and His universe.
The Second Commandment
Practicing the Second
Commandment in Daily Life
The Ten Commandments
First Lessons in Christian
Science for Children
