Children Expressing Reverence / Children Evoking Reverence

Developmental science is virtually silent on the possibility of children experiencing reverence. Philosophers and theologians tend to include in their descriptions of reverence the expression of deep respect, humility and awe. In many religious traditions, children are taught to perform acts of devotion that ought to be accompanied by a sense of reverence. But most of the adults involved in supervising these ritual acts of devotion are seriously suspicious that most of the children most of the time are ‘going through the motions’ without any experience of anything we could call ‘reverence.’ Indeed, we often detect a wicked irreverence betrayed by barely muffled giggles.

I work with children in a church that is generally OK with giggles. I have occasionally made an effort to persuade these children that the altar is a holy space to be approached with special care. They don’t buy it. It’s just a table with some interesting things on it. I have tried to teach them that our labyrinth is holy ground, meant to be walked prayerfully. Maybe they are prayerful for the first couple of turns, but soon enough, there is a race to make it to the center. I can’t bring myself to expend any effort in suppressing childlike exuberance. Reverence will come when it comes.

When it comes is on the one Sunday each year when we wash each other’s feet in Kid’s Church. We tell the story of Jesus’ last supper with the disciples’, and we remember that Jesus gave a new commandment that evening: that we love one another. Then Jesus washed each of the disciple’s feet and exhorted them to do this for one another as a way of remembering him. We take off our shoes and socks, dip linen cloths in warm water, and wash the feet of the person sitting next to us.

Children’s feet are often ticklish, and each year I am expecting that this ritual will devolve into giggles. There is the possibility of splashing. There are a dozen ways this could erupt into a childish playfulness that, in truth, I value just as much as I value reverence. But there is something about this footwashing service that seems to evoke tenderness. I am not sure whether their tenderness is accompanied by a sense of reverence. I only know that watching them evokes profound reverence in me.