One of my chores at work today was to remove name ribbons from the baptismal candle. Each year on All Saints Day church members are asked to write the names of those close to them who have died in the past year on a 2″ x 11″ piece of paper. During the service they tape their ribbon to the baptismal candle. This act symbolizes stuff like, uh, our connection to one another and to God through baptism, stuff like that. The ribbons stay on the candle until the end of the church year which was yesterday. So, today I took almost 200 paper ribbons off the candle. Somehow I can’t believe that all those folks died in the past year, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that each person named is remembered. Most of the paper ribbons are plain and have just a name written across them. But the children’s ribbons, oh, they are so lovely! I hope I’m not crossing some ethical boundry by sharing a few here.
I think these ribbons demonstrate three very important things:
1. Picasso was right, all children are artists!
2. Pets bring joy and meaning to our lives.
3. If your child wants a pet, but you, as a parent, aren’t up for years of committment and responsibility, a fish is your best bet.
You’ll find other examples of kids are here and here.
