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A very witty rhyme French Sunday school children would recite to themselves - squirming and giggling at their creative and rebellious insight. Wait, there is more (English translation at the end):

Silence, la queue du chat balance.
Le cure dance sur un bidon d'essence.
La messe commence.

Quiet, the cat's tail swings about.
The vicar performs a dance atop a barrel of gasoline.
The mass starts.

The fact I still remember this piece of poetry 40 years later is a testimony to its enduring value.

The inference here is that as a Sunday school child, you dare not making any noises during the performance of the church service.

And a performance it was. Instead of instilling in us the fear of God it made us seek avenues to ease our boredom. The vicar could control our behaviour - he could not control our minds.

No wonder it was in my late thirties that I finally made a decision to follow Christ. Children are no fools. They can see the discrepancy of what takes place in the home, the school and the church and come to their own conclusion as to whether or not this religion plastered onto them has any value or not.

Yet God is faithful. I remember clearly an occasion where I went to confess my sins and was told that I was forgiven by God. I went that day all the way back home hop-skipping along as if I was weightless. It was a spiritual experience God did not forget either as I worshipped Him along the footpath - literally set free from sin.

The bible has much to say about how children enter the kingdom of God. In fact it says that unless we take on their innocence we will not enter.

Children have a tempering effect on adults -not always their own parents. Their joy is soothing to the soul. Their ability to take on the gospel at face value is their drawcard. Adults try to rationalize everything. Children get the gist of a parable. They like to be taught through stories.

In fact they demand to hear a lullaby as they fall asleep. At that stage many women find that if they try they do have a singing voice. As the child grows older a bedtime story is a must. Mum and Dad can take turns. The bible is replete with great bedtime stories.

As we move into adulthood the challenge is to keep that spiritual connection intact and build it up. Unfortunately many have fallen away for lack of a good mentor or simply by not exercising their faith.

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