Children are the Beaker People of the Present

It was a joy and unexpected pleasure to have so many people turn up yesterday morning.

In some respects it was just an amazing miracles of timing that three of Arti's grandchildren were visiting on the same day as four children whose parents are thinking of holding a hand-fasting in the Spring. And then two members of Little Pebbles thought they'd see what the "Big Boulders" got up to.

You see, people often say to me that "children are the Beaker People of the future". To which I reply no - children are the Beaker People of today. They're just smaller than the other Beaker Folk.

But on the other hand, we had an issue. Apart from the "holding pen" at the back of the Moot House where we keep the really little ones to stop them moving about, we don't normally have children in our worship. Frankly we find them quite annoying and needy. We use a lot of worship aids - tea lights, pebbles and so on - that can be quite dangerous in bored little hands. And I remember with horror that day when, looking up to check the next line of the Beaker Solemn Prayer on St Jarvis's Day, I saw a three-foot high Optimus Prime - with full working parts - fly across the Moot House and catch poor Hnaef mid-meditation.

And yesterday we had scheduled a two-hour dissertation on "The dialectic between the thought of Karl Barth and Willo-the-Wisp". Which was never going to hold little attention spans for long.

Thankfully, with the improvisational skills for which we are renowned, we were able to re-model the service! Charlii was despatched to put on the squirrel outfit, the Beaker Quire launched into "Father Abraham" and the day was saved!

Charlii gave a wonderful "squirrel Advent monologue" on the Wise and Foolish squirrels. Some of the adult Beaker Folk said it was the first sermon they'd understood all year.