Dispatch from Level 2

By Harriet Claiborne, Lead Formation Leader for Atrium 2 (grades 1-3).

“We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.” —I John 1:1-4

Last Sunday, sixteen children waited patiently for their name to be called. They entered the atrium and sat on the floor by the prayer table which they covered with a purple cloth for Lent.

We’ve been talking about the maxims that Jesus gave us, as invitations, to help us live well in the Kingdom of God. There are 12 of them, such as “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” written on one side of a wooden tablet, with the scripture location on the back.

The maxims live in a wooden box and can be taken out easily and copied or read again. There have been years when a child laid them down as stepping stones to the prayer table, and other times to make the sign of the cross. Sometimes they become our closing prayer.

Last week, after we gathered and people were choosing their work, I paused to look around the room. Ms. Gaye was assisting the cutting and pasting of Bible verses for a Lenten calendar. Dcn Ruthie was assisting others with preparation of the chalice. Ms. Ann was talking to a shy person, and someone else was copying something on the light tracer while another sat and waited his turn. One person was decorating a cover for the Bible that will be his in the atrium. A group worked with the City of Jerusalem. Yet another poured water over his fist at the baptism table. Three sat on the floor by the prayer table copying maxims.

It was a blessed day in the Level 2 Atrium!