The Unwinding Path, Betany Coons, text and illustrations. IVP Kids (ISBN: 9781514013151) 2026.
Summary: A bedtime book inviting children into quiet and rest as they follow the calming path of the labyrinth.
One of the challenges of bedtimes for young children is helping them wind down and fall asleep. Sometimes, there has been so much in the day filling their minds and hearts. Reading aloud together is one of the ways parents help children unwind and let go and get sleepy.
In this case Betany Coons has written a book that intentionally helps children enter into quiet and rest. We are invited to follow the winding path of a labyrinth, which is really an “unwinding” path. It’s a path of no wrong turns that acknowledges the “dead ends and wrong turns” of the day. As we walk, we are invited to notice and let go of the heavy things we carry. Although we climb a stairway to the entrance of the labyrinth, we begin to feel lighter. We pause at the top for some deep breaths, to listen, look, and breathe in the smells.
Then we follow a winding path, perhaps with a child tracing it with a finger. We run, feeling God in the wind all around us. Though we walk through dark places, we needn’t fear getting lost because this is a labyrinth, a single unwinding path. And we are not alone but gentle guided by the Spirit into stillness and light.
Part of the path is on water, and we float through a glade of sleeping creatures, remaining quiet so as not to wake them. We become so still we hear our hearts beat, reminding us with each beat of God’s love as we come to the heart of the labyrinth. We rest, breathe, scoop some water and feel the softness of the air and the presence of God.
And then we follow the path out, taking the time we need. It’s like climbing into bed, covered and held by God’s love. “Breathe in. Breathe out.”
The story and the path help children, and maybe their parents, both let go of the day and surrender themselves to God’s tender care in the night. Betany Coons invites us to breathe in and out, to float and be still, and to become aware of God with us.
The calming words are accompanied with illustrations in soothing cool colors with splashes of brightness. The path allows for a slow and meandering journey as we come to the quiet center.
My hunch is that children will not be the only ones to unwind in the shared time of this bedtime story. And don’t we all need the reminder of God holding and loving us at the end of the day? I know I do.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Teaching Godly Play, Jerome W. Berryman. Church Publishing (ISBN: 9781606740484) 2009
Summary: An introduction to the Godly Play approach to the Christian formation of pre-adolescent children.
I made a mistake in picking up this book. I thought this would be a discussion of play and how one might think as a Christian about the subject. So that you don’t make the same mistake, “Godly Play” is the name of an educational approach to the Christian education or formation of pre-adolescent children developed by Jerome and Thea Berryman.
That said, I’m glad to have made this mistake. The Christian education of children is often left to committed but poorly trained adult volunteers. One of the thing I appreciated here is that the Berrymans developed an approach to the Christian formation of children that thinks about the roles of the co-teachers (storyteller and door person), the flow of lessons, how one works with a community of children, and the setup of a classroom.
The dedication, which written shortly after the passing of Berryman’s wife, Thea, explains how they developed this approach out of their experience with Montessori education, including their training with Maria Montessori. The dedication concludes with a diagram of the Godly Play Room. Bookmark this for reference as you read the book. Then Berryman explains his use of the language of play and the idea that children might come to understand their faith through the medium of play. What he offers is a brief theology of play. An explanation follows of bringing a community of children together to play through listening, wondering, through artistic expression, feasting, and blessing. The goal of this is to form children in a Christian language that enables them to make sense of their faith for themselves.
Berryman then walks, chapter by chapter, through the flow of a Godly Play class. It begins at the threshold, where parents and children leave each other with the door person’s help. Children “get ready” to enter the circle, which involves sitting quietly on the floor with legs crossed and hands folded, resting on their ankles. When the child does this at the door, they can take a seat in the circle.
The co-teacher who is storyteller sits on the floor with the children. Berryman describes setting up the circle and presenting the story. Then comes the wondering time. This is where children are invited to ask wondering questions about the story. Along the way, Berryman also offers help in dealing with disruptions in a non-punitive fashion.
The next step involves dismissing children so they can work on their own responses to the story. Children are dismissed one at a time and helped by the door person to use art or lesson materials during this time. Examples are provided of the different ways children can “work’ during this time–really a kind of wondering play. The time concludes with clean-up, putting all materials away on the appropriate shelves.
Then the group prepares for “the feast.” The feast may be as simple as cookies and juice, prepared by volunteers. Each child has the chance to pray quietly or out loud. After prayer, they enjoy the feast, which can be a time for informal visiting with children. Then it’s time to clean up. One can see how this anticipates the Eucharist.
By then, parents are waiting. There is a process of saying good-bye to each child and to bless each other and commend them to their parents.
The final two chapters focus on growing as Godly Play teachers. The first asks, “How do you know Godly Play when you see it?” Berryman notes that both God and play must be present! He also outlines how the Godly Play curriculum uses a spiral approach to reinforce learning the Christian language. Finally, he contends that growth as a Godly Play teacher involves staying close to children.
The book serves as an introduction to the Godly Play approach of Christian education. On its own, it offers help to those who teach children. Better yet, seek out Godly Play training and use the Get Started resources and Godly Play resources to set up a classroom.
This book makes us consider how seriously do we take the Christian formation of children. Is it as carefully thought through as a regular classroom? Is teacher training and good curriculum materials offered? And are children treated as part of our community, with dignity? Whether or not a church adopts Godly Play, these are questions we must ask.
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Summary: Parallels the Western disdain for mothers and children with ancient Rome, and what early Christians can teach us.
Nadya Williams decided in 2023 to walk away from a traditional academic career. But it was not, primarily, to freelance, or consult. She walked away to homeschool her children. As a result, she experienced the incredulity of friends and professional colleagues who tried to make sense of her choice. They confirmed her assessment that in a Western, post-Christian world it makes no economic or professional sense to do this. Having children costs a lot of money both directly and indirectly. And the choice of motherhood ahead of professional career has been increasing framed as an inferior, or even oppressive choice, even when freely chosen. Williams argues that her experience reflects a societal devaluation of the personhood of children and mothers and a disdain for maternal bodies.
In the first part of the book, Williams elaborates this argument. She begins with the experience of expectant mothers in modern ob/gyn practices. She describes practices in which the office decor features contraceptive advertising and Botox advertising to remove the after effects of pregnancy on a woman’s body. Williams contrasts it to a midwives practice to which she switched that featured pictures of babies on the wall. [My wife sees a conventional ob/gyn at which pictures of babies adorn the walls, so this must not always be so.]. But she makes the point that one must prevent pregnancy or remove its effects on the body to maintain societal ideals of beauty.
Likewise, if one has children, they are increasingly designed through fertility practices and genetic testing. Then children endure an assembly line education to prepare them to be good and productive citizens. Thus, we deny by objectification and commodification their personhood. Finally, motherhood is denigrated in comparison to being productive creatives by feminist writers.
The second part of the book looks at the parallel devaluation of life in ancient Roman culture and the counter-culture of early Christians. She contends that women were largely considered mere sex objects. The value of children depended on their status and health. Deformed children killed, and others, often girls, left exposed to die. War only underscored the devaluation of women and children, who were raped, killed, or enslaved. She contrasts the ethic of the early church that valued all persons, including the single, childless, mothers, children, and others on the margins. They rescued exposed infants, and cared for the sick abandoned by families during plagues.
What may we learn from the early church in a parallel, though distinct context? In the third part of the book, Williams answers this by appealing to three writers, two ancient, and one contemporary. First she introduces us to the prison journals of Perpetua, who along with an enslaved Christian, Felicity, were martyred. Felicity bore a child shortly before her death, while imprisoned. Perpetua’s discussion of motherhood speaks powerfully to anti-motherhood tracts of modernity.
The second was Augustine, whose City of God speaks of the theological basis for valuing lives amid the dehumanizing sack of Rome. His writing to sustain the Christian community models redemptive writing for our day. He spoke life-giving words into a culture of death. Finally, she calls our attention to Wendell Berry, whose life work has been to connect human dignity both Godward and to the land which sustains us as we seek its flourishing.
Williams concludes with arguing that to be pro-life involves far more than preventing abortions. The diminution of mothers and the commodification of children is a far cry from the human dignity a consistently pro-life stance entails. Of course, this extends across the whole spectrum of human existence. Perhaps the most powerful and counter-cultural witness our communities can engage in is to value mothers and children, as well as other members of the human community.
Williams speaks powerfully to the “we need more babies” contention. This still treats babies as a commodity. Rather, she holds out the ideal of communities who love children.
She models a mother who is creative both in parenting and writing. I do think she needs to address the “Handmaids Tale” fears of women. There is a toxic patriarchy that also “affirms” motherhood at the expense of dehumanizing women. I also know families in which men have forgone careers to raise (if not bear) children. Such men are also denigrated. I’d love to see more said about the dignity of their choices, which equally affirm the worth of children.
I also appreciate the nuance she brings to discussions of education, in which homeschooling as well as public education are part of the assembly line. Each can equally commodify children instead of treating them as image bearers. And each reflects a contest over who controls the assembly line. It often feels to me that we “machine” children to be optimal cogs in our nation’s workforce.
It seems to me that the major challenge is to create a culture of life within our Christian communities that is more compelling than the commodifying culture around us that marginalizes or kills its “non-productives.” I think it means disengaging from the conflicting political narratives of our culture. Neither dignifies life. And I think it means forging communities where we deeply connect across generations and stages of life. Superficial fellowship times over coffee don’t cut it. Nadya Williams identifies a key place where we can begin. We can value our children. We can affirm the choices of moms (or dads) to stay home to raise children. And we can be the village that helps them do it. Yes, this is a costly choice but one Christian communities can embrace. We know loving a child or valuing a mother is costly but this is what God has done.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Summary: A lavishly illustrated book designed for parents to use with children in teaching them the meaning of the Lord’s prayer and praying together in family worship.
One of the things I love about this book out of the gate is that is designed for parents to use in introducing their children to the Lord’s Prayer, walking phrase by phrase through the prayer. I suspect that as parents do so with their children–perhaps no more than a phrase a day because the reflections are rich–the parents will learn as well. How many of us have reflected on the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer?
Here’s part of the reflection on “Thy Kingdom Come”:
"Lord teach us to pray.Your kingdom come.Can we make God's kingdom come? No!His kingdom comes all by itself.Where is God's kingdom?Wherever Jesus is, there he rules as King.He brings us life and forgiveness, peace and salvation.That's why we pray for God's kingdom to come."
The book is lavishly illustrated in a rich palette of color showing Jesus in a variety of settings, each connected in some way with the phrase of the Lord’s Prayer being read about. Here is an example from the publisher’s website of the “Thy Kingdom Come” pages:
One of the features I noticed is that Jesus is dark-skinned, not the fair-haired blonde Jesus many of us grew up with. Also, there are people with a variety of skin colors and features, fitting with the title of this prayer being for all God’s children.
You may also notice FatCat, who appears on every page. Children will love looking for FatCat, who visually represents an important idea in this book–the “fatness” of the catechism–that it is full of meaning. This book, and others in the FatCat series are intended to teach in an approachable manner about central texts of the faith–the Apostles Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer.
The book builds on this idea in a discussion titled “Families are little churches” that follows the Lord’s Prayer. These book reflect the conviction that the family is where instruction (“catechesis”) has happened throughout church history and that this can be as praying what we believe together a families. A simple family prayer service that may be read responsively follows in the text.
The author concludes by sharing scripture texts that informed and bounded both text and illustrations for each phrase. It was clear in reading this book that great care was given to say both what this prayer does and does not mean and what we may learn both of Jesus who teaches the prayer and the Father to whom it is addressed.
This book is a gift to parents who want to actively take part in teaching their children about the faith. The combination of the beautiful illustrations, FatCat who roams the pages, the biblically grounded reflections, and helps in translating teaching into family worship make this a rich resource packed into just 32 pages.
Tomorrow I will be reviewing another book in this series, The King of Christmas.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.
We are sorry to inform you about the condition of our finances. Currently [June 6, 2014] your mother and I each have an unpaid debt as of today of $55,038.76 totaling $110,077.52 for the two of us. We have been making payments on the interest but have not been able to reduce the principle. In fact, the principle amount is going up each day and it appears that you will inherit a debt significantly larger than this current amount.
I’m sure this must surprise you as parents are supposed to leave inheritances and not debts to their children. You probably are wondering how we got into such a situation and are making no efforts to reduce this debt. What it amounts to is that we have grown accustomed to a lifestyle where we expect to receive more than we pay for. And as it turns out, the banker has been extremely lenient, allowing us to incur more debt and spend more money on the theory that somehow we will spend ourselves out of debt! It seems the bankers even think that to raise our payments or make us curb our expenses will only make life harder, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?
The bankers have even been so understanding that they allow us to pass this debt along to you. Truth is our parents passed some of it along to us, and we’ve done a great job adding to it. Actually, the bankers are pretty certain you will understand because they have let you incur a similar debt, which is growing as well. They are probably thinking you won’t mind too much because you can pass this along to however many children you have, or even total strangers!
Sometimes we wonder what will happen if the interest grows to the point where we can’t pay it and the bank has to call our loans in for repayment, or collapse. But it seems like this is a problem that probably won’t occur in the years we have remaining. And the bankers keep saying that they will find a solution to this “somewhere down the road.”
So we hope you won’t worry too much about this or hold it against us. We just wanted you to know.
That’s all for now. Gotta go–we’re headed to the mall to put some more stuff on the credit card.
Love,
Your parents
*In case you haven’t figured this out, this is a parable about our national debt.
