…or does it?
July 1, 2009 (Wednesday)
Hello, July. Goodbye, June. Can that be possible? Where did June go? If the rest of the year passes as quickly as June (at least in my opinion), then we better get our Christmas shopping done, because .. well, time flies.
Serious scientific studies show, however, that time is relative to one’s age. Take, for instance, one hour in the worship service of the average church. To people my age, one hour of worship is one hour long. To the average five-year-old, however, one hour in an adult worship service is at least a full day of imprisonment. It’s not just because a child is more energetic than we are, or that his interests are just not the same as ours. The fact is, according to studies already mentioned, time is actually perceived by a small child as moving much more slowly than it does in reality.
Einstein’s “theory of relativity” was late in being discovered. Little guys in church knew about it a long time ago.
In response to that discovery in recent years, churches are providing materials for each child to keep him busy, like coloring pictures and solving puzzles, mostly Bible-based. I have been handed many interesting papers at the conclusion of worship services. They have been pictures, poems, etc. written by the children during church. They are quite interesting, and mostly inspirational, as the children’s creativity combined with their learning about God. Many of their comments directly relate to the sermon preached that day. They do pay attention, and they are interested, but it’s time we recognized the difference in perception of time by the little fellows. We need to do what we can to help them mean it when they sing, “I like to go to church!”