Dissecting the Our Father......

Loved loved loved Wednesday night's religion class (what am I supposed to call them now -- it isn't CCD any more -- religious ed?  Who knows??  :)

We are currently on a section called "Prayer".  There was an extremely large sign up, so I am team teaching this time with my friend, Scott Frey.  I've never taught with him but have found we complement each other really well.  As much as I love my faith, I am not really into history (especially the historical facts of the church) so I find that team teaching with someone who knows these things really puts a new spark into class!

Up last night:  dissecting the Our Father.  We took it line by line and discussed what it is we are really saying when we say that prayer.  I love the Our Father -- firstly because it is a prayer prayed by most faiths -- so we have that in common.  I also love its simplicity -- just asking for a few things and a little guidance!!!

I can't ever really tell when I/we are gettting through to a class.  We have some interaction, and a little discussion -- I'm not silly enough to think that everyone loves the classes all the time -- but last night seemed to go extra well.  We were looking for "things" in the Our Father -- the petitions -- and they were really thinking about it.  We talked about the prayer line by line and discussed what the prayer really means.

There are so many prayers that we just say and don't take the time to think about, or realize, what we are really saying.  In this case, the Our Father has seven petitions.  Did you know that?  There are three petitions that are out of reverence for Jesus.  There are four that are for us.  Seven petitions.  Often the number seven means perfection (not luck!) -- so sometimes the Our Father is called the perfect prayer.

Did you know all of that?  I didn't really until I started diving into my info for the class.  This is exactly why I teach -- I learn something each and every week!  Then I turn around and teach it and hope the kids learn so they, too, can pass it on!

We had previously decided to take the last 15 minutes of class and have the entire high school together for an assembly of sorts to discuss the rice bowl activity that is going to be taking place.  I have to say that there are some nights when I am watching my clock waiting for class to be over -- last night was not one of them.  I was sad when we were not able to get through all of the information!

I promised them next week's class is going to be memorable.  I can't wait.  I have never done a class like this, about this before......so it should be great!  (I hope!).

Have a great day!!!