On Mothers’ Day, my children’s choir was getting ready to sing for worship. They were sitting in front, per my suggestion and were paying attention to worship. I was impressed with them.
Over the course of the past program year, we’ve been celebrating our congregation’s 60th anniversary. One of the ways is to honor the people who have made up this congregation by celebrating the number of years that they’ve been a part of this ministry. So on Mothers’ Day, we were celebrating the 30-39 year members.
One of my parish, who was in that membership bracket, was taking medication that lowered her blood pressure and can make her faint. Unfortunately as she stood there, she got faint and fell. Not knowing what was going on, the children thought she was dying.
They were sitting in the front pew and witnessed the whole thing.
Obviously some of the children were traumatized, at least in part. It was a teaching moment to be sure, but it also makes me wonder about the advice I gave…should children be front and center?
I still think so, the kids witnessed not only that life is precious, but also that there is wonderful care in our community. They saw paramedics and a doctor (a member of our church) and learned that they all contribute to making us safe. They learned that as the medics worked on her and we prayed for her, prayer works.
All in all, is it something I’d like to relive. For her sake, NO! But I hope that the children learned something and that they will realize what they learned from it.
What would you do in this situation?
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