6 - Sunday, February 12, 1989 - North Shore News Christian fears Prayer no help IS THE BIBLE ITSELF the biggest reason why so many young people shun religion? Longtime Sunday school teacher John Payne of North Van suggests it may be. Reader Payne sent us some thoughtful comments about my recent column on the banning of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools. A firm believer in public education based on Christian values, he pointed out that both the Constitution and the national anthem invoke God as a founda- tion of our country. **We should be teaching our children what this God is like,’” he says. But the problem he has found teaching children the Lord's Prayer is that its images are adult. To a child, God is portrayed as an omnipcetent, grey-naired old man in the sky, in contrast to the mod- ern concept of God as ‘‘a spiritual- ly young, loving, caring, nurturing Creator who calls us to be co- creators in this universe, to love our neighbors, and to take care of the environment.’” He finds it particularly sad that the Lord’s Prayer contains nothing to suggest we are co-creators with God. ‘‘The ability to create is one of the most exciting things to children,”’ he stresses. ‘*For them to know that God is excited about their creation too is wonderful for their self-image.”’ One other major problem Mr. Payne has found with the Lord’s Prayer as a Christian education tool is the absence of the word, “‘love’’”, the idea of a God of Love. “Children understand love,'’ he says. ‘‘They can give love and receive it. It is not ambiguous io them.”* The real challenge, he concludes, is to bring to our schools an image of God's love and creative purpose for people — without necessarily implying that it’s ‘‘only for Chris- tians.”’ The words of the Lord's Prayer, he feets, fait Biack-out bucks HILE THE adjustments to Lions Bay’s overiozded 8.C. Hydro transformers leave residents satisfied that their primary con- INSIGHTS Lord’s to kids today’s youngsters. To me, John Payne’s thoughts make sense. But for Christians there remains the practical ques- tion of what to do about it. Do we rewrite the Lord's Prayer — and even much of the rest of the Bible? Or, for educational purposes, do we junk them altogether and pro- duce an entirely new ‘‘liturgy’’ for school kids? If so, would it still be Christianity or just another mod- ern theosophy? Let's hear from some more of Canada’s 90 per cent of ‘census Christians’’ out there! Meanwhile, since the Constitu- tion of multicultural Canada in- vokes God, one final intriguing question remains. Is the Constitution — the basis of the B.C. Supreme Court ban on school Bible reading — itself un- constitutional? cae WATCH OUT, PULP MILE — North Van's Doug Pederson is after you. Doug, a self-made shaman, claims his Indian Medi- cine Stones can wreak havoc on those who bug him — like raining on Expo until they let him in, and lousing up Calgary's Winter Games with chinooks because they kept him out. Tuesday, Feb. 14 he plans to ‘flatten the polluters of Howe Sound" by hanging his magic rocks on trees there and do- ing his ritual dance. Canadian Forest Products might be smart to give a quick call to the Olympic Committee before they !augh Doug off! ene WRAP-UP: Coming to life on original soundtracks next Satur- day, Feb. 18, at Sutherland music students’ Jukebox Night to raise scholarship funds will be Elvis, the Beatles and Glen Miller among the many other 1945-1970 greats. Tickets for the cabaret, including light meal and dancing 'til J a.m., from the school — or call 987-1764 ... Don’t wait any longer to get your duck and a chance of fabu- lous prizes in next Sunday’s (Feb. 19) Great Capilano River Duck Race, Still on sale at all major North Shore malls, but the remain- ing ducks are going fast ... And set NOEL WRIGHT © sunday branch © mn mt your alarms Monday night, mer- chants and business folk, for the exciting breakfast launch of North Shore Tourism ’89 — 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Park Royal North. ant WRIGHT OR WRONG: Try always to speak with soft, sweet words — they’re easier to swallow when you have to eat them.