Comic strips and children's books...

I enjoy reading comic strips, comics, the funnies... whatever you call them.  I also enjoy reading children's books.  Why?  For one, sheer pleasure!  There is joy and laughter and fun.  Another reason?  For education.  That's right.  I learn from them.  I have learned many of life's lessons through the black and white or colored frames of comic strips as well as through characters in children's books.

When I find a comic strip that "speaks to me", I normally tear it out and save it for future reference.  Or, I may pass it along to someone if it speaks to me in that way.   What kinds of life lessons do I learn?  If it's "Zits" or "Baby Blues", it's often life situation stuff about family and raising kids.  Sometimes it makes me laugh or shake my head in wonder or disbelief.  Other examples from which I learn include: "Dennis the Menace", "Mother Goose & Grimm", "Mutts", "Snuffy Smith", "Wizard of Id", "Garfield", "Hi & Lois", "Frank & Ernest", etc.  Truly, if we're open to learning from all of life, we will.

Beyond life lessons, I'll take a moment to plug using comics for language learning.  When I was studying French as my 3rd language, my professor (Jean-Paul Carton) loaned me stacks of «Boule et Bill» to read.  Those were great vocabulary boosters!  That started me in collecting children's books and comics in Spanish and French to loan to my students when I taught.

Children's books.... one that I've used extensively over the years (used as devotions, for children's messages, used in a sermon, used it in the classroom to teach Spanish [«El conejito andarín»], handed out copies to folks in both Spanish and English) is «The Runaway Bunny» by Margaret Wise Brown.  This is a great book, illustrated by Clement Hurd.  Per the book it is appropriate for newborn to age 6.  I think it's appropriate for all ages.  On the back of the book is this statement: "Celebrating a mother's steadfast love for her little bunny." 

I first heard of this book from Evelyn Laycock in the 1980's through an Advanced Lay Speaking Course I took one summer at Hiwassee College.  She used the story of the bunny and its mother and knitted it together with Psalm 139.   Steadfast love.  Deep love.  Both passages speak of this kind of love.

I haven't been the same since.  Psalm 139 has become an important part of the faith fabric in my journey.  And so has «The Runaway Bunny».  

The most recent time I've used «The Runaway Bunny» was last year, Valentine's Day.  I was blessed to share the Sunday message that afternoon with some residents at a local care facility.  We sang hymns together, we shared the message from the Word, we shared the children's story, and we shared communion.  I left them with hand-crafted origami flowers a friend had made for each of them and a red cut-out paper heart I had made with a message based on Psalm 139: "I love you because I created you.  I knit you together in your mother's womb.  You are mine forever.  You are beautiful to me.  Love, God."

I know I'm simple minded to enjoy the teachings I receive from comic strips and children's books, and that's okay with me.   Sometimes it's the simple things that truly help me clarify my relationships, with God and others.  They allow me to slow down, to focus, to rid my brain of the whirlwinds of thoughts.

I would encourage you to take some time along your journey to enjoy the comics, to read some children's books.  You don't have to look for life lessons, just enjoy them!  But, if the life lessons come across, pay attention to them.  They just might change your life.

May you realize that no matter where you are on your journey or where you go on your journey, you are loved!

~Debra