An instructive tale for school children
Dear colleagues! I bring to your attention the author's fairy tale from the literary cycle "Instructive Tales" for children from 9 to 15 years old.This methodical development can be useful for Sunday school teachers, elementary school teachers, additional education teachers, parents and creative people.
Lychangina Lyubov Vladimirovna, Sunday school teacher at the Church of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, Aldan District, Yakut and Lena Diocese of Russia Orthodox Church(Moscow Patriarchate)
Target: education of the moral qualities of children through the literary word.
Tasks: to give children an idea of the true values in human life; to cultivate moral qualities - compassion, mercy, philanthropy, good nature, respect and love for one's neighbor.
Tale of Heaven and Hell
You carefully look deep into yourself:Both Paradise and Hell are inside everyone!
Once upon a time, there was a very proud and rich lady in the world.
A pretty young girl worked in her service, the kindest soul, defenseless before the arrogance and rudeness of her elderly mistress. Despite the fact that her life was unsweetened, the girl had a cheerful and good-natured disposition, for which everyone in the village loved her, and the feisty lady hated her even more.
One day an old man wandered into their village. He asked the rich hostess for the night, some food and water, to which she replied indifferently: “Go your own way. God will provide."
In response, the old man asked the lady a strange question, which confused her a lot: “Tell me, kind woman, how do you imagine Paradise?”
The old woman thought and thought, and said: “I have a weakness for fried sausages ... I love them with passion! I would eat every day! ”- and dreamily rolling her eyes, she even began to smack her tongue with lust ...
"I have a favorite book, as soon as I finish reading it to the end, I immediately start reading again!"
"I also love luxury very much ... At home I have curtains made of gold brocade and crystal chandeliers ...
Now, if all this turned out to be with me in Paradise ... "
Suddenly the lady broke off, surprised at herself: why did she open up before a stranger? Suddenly a robber...
“Well, go already, don’t speak your teeth to me and don’t anger me, otherwise I’ll set the dogs on you!” she shouted at the curious stranger.
The Stranger bowed. But he was too weak from hunger and thirst to move on. He just reached the oak behind the fence, and sat down under it, breathing heavily.
And the young maid is right there: “Take, father, a mug of milk and a piece of bread, strengthen your strength, and in the evening, when it gets dark, I will take you to the canopy, and you will spend the night there ...”
“You are a kind soul, thank you for the bread and for the salt, but I’ll probably refuse the lodging for the night! We must continue the path...
And tell me, dear child, what would you like to see in Paradise?
The girl was glad to communicate with such a pleasant person, fortunately, the lady plunged into an afternoon nap.
She did not think for long what to answer: “I, Father, would like to be near God!”
A sly smile lit up the old man's wise face.
The lady woke up early in the morning. The sun shone dazzlingly through the windows, because in the evening one of the servants forgot to close the golden brocade curtains, the crystal chandelier sparkled with thousands of cheerful lights from the sunlight, the pendants of the chandelier tinkled joyfully from the light breeze; the aroma of fried sausages wafting from the kitchen pleasantly tickled my nostrils. But the lady was in a bad mood, she always had such a state of mind when nothing was a joy.
Wanting to distract herself by reading the book, she read the page on which it was open.
How the day flew by, the lady did not even notice.
The next morning, she woke up again to bright sunlight, the chime of a chandelier, and the smell of grilled sausage. When the old woman picked up the book, she was surprised to see that it was open on the same page as yesterday, although she remembered exactly that she had moved the bookmark to the next page. Because of this strange event, the desire to read from the capricious rich woman instantly disappeared. Her mood got worse...
On the third day, everything was exactly the same.
Wanting to take a walk in the garden, the rich woman opened the door of her room, and when she left it, she was stunned with amazement ... Her room turned out to be not a room at all, but a cabin of a huge ship, there was no garden at all, instead of it - a spacious deck, neatly and cleanly washed, but completely deserted.
When the lady took a walk on the deck, she was convinced that she was traveling all alone on this luxurious ship. It made her feel terrified and even scared.
And life on the ship continued to flow monotonously ...
So 40 days passed. Tolerate such an existence has become completely impossible. Every morning the mistress woke up from the bright sunlight that had become disgusting to her, ripples appeared in her eyes from the glare of the chandelier, the ringing of pendants caused a severe migraine, and the smell of fried sausage began attacks of severe nausea. The once beloved book, opened daily by an invisible hand on the same page, aroused disgust.
And suddenly, suddenly, the woman realized that this was That Light ... She realized that earthly life it was already over ... At that very moment, for some reason, she remembered her unfortunate maid, whom she humiliated, offended and even beat all the time, remembered how she had not treated her when she was seriously ill, and how she had not shed a single tear when the young the life of her miserable servant.
And belated repentance stirred in the soul of the old woman ...
The sinful woman was already completely exhausted by a monotonous, dull and therefore unhappy life, she wandered drearily over the deck of the ship and suddenly came across a staircase that had never before caught her eye.
The old lady went up to the very last rung of the stairs and looked up.... But this second deck of the ship turned out to be a real sky! A dazzling light hit her eyes, it was so bright that the sinner almost lost her sight. When the old eyes got a little used to the radiant light, she was amazed to see God, who was seated on a snow-white-gold throne, and next to him, at his right hand, sat her own maid. An unearthly radiance emanated from both, the air was filled with a wonderful aroma, beautiful music sounded softly, and the infinite love of this young and pure girl for the Creator was clearly felt. And this love was mutual!
“But this is Paradise!” - suddenly realizing the truth, the old woman exclaimed in despair.
And only then did she realize that she herself had been living in Hell all this time.
But nothing can be changed...
Hell is endless. Century changes century...
Be careful what you wish for, man!
How to tell a child about the cruel world of the Old Testament, so as not to injure his child's psyche? How to explain that God is not cruel, but merciful? Is it worth scaring children with eternal hellish torment for disobedience?
Old Testament
From the very beginning, we introduce children to a loving God, we say that God, like the sun, illuminates everything around with His love. And suddenly the pages of the Old Testament appear before the children, with Egyptian executions, the punishment of the Jews, flood. The stories of the Old Testament are full of bloodshed. The old man is in itself hard-hearted and very sinful, for which God actually punishes him. However, God himself in the Old Testament may appear to a child as a punisher, exterminating entire nations and destroying cities. Actually it is not. The apparent cruelty of the Lord is the cruelty of a loving Father. What do a father and mother do when they see that their son is associated with bad company and can become a criminal? The first measure is to cut off all communication. So is God, who endures the “antics” of his beloved child for a long time, waits for repentance, forgives many times, and only then punishes. And not just in pedagogical purposes but for raising a new generation ready to accept Jesus Christ in the future and move with him into the New Testament.
According to Hieromonk Adrian (Pashin):
“But in order for the rough, hard-nosed, as the Bible calls it, the Jewish people to listen to God, it must be completely separated from all other peoples, mired in paganism.”
Therefore, first of all, it is worth explaining to the children why God is actually angry, and that his punishment is a fair measure for the actions of the Old Testament people.
The justice of God is expressed in the fact that He generously rewards righteousness and severely punishes sins. Yahweh is a philanthropic and merciful God, long-suffering and many-merciful and true, preserving the truth and showing mercy to thousands of generations, forgiving guilt and crime and sin, but not leaving without punishment, punishing the guilt of the fathers in children and children of children up to the third and fourth generation () .
According to the Orthodox theologian V. Lossky, “the history of mankind after the fall is the history of a long shipwreck with the expectation of salvation ... Fallen man is in a state of painful passivity, at first it is an ineradicable aching longing for paradise, and then an increasingly conscious expectation of salvation.” Old Testament This is, according to St. fathers, a schoolmaster, i.e. an educator of the human race, who wisely prepared him for the Coming into the world of Jesus Christ and accepting Him as the Savior of the world.
Children's whims lead to hell?
Archpriest Andrei Lorgus, practicing psychologist, rector of the Institute of Christian Psychology (Moscow) :
“Sometimes believing parents frighten little children with demons, ordeals, hellish torments, being sure that this is Christian education. This also applies to some Sunday school teachers, and, alas, even to some priests. In my opinion, this is more than a mistake, this is a crime.
In general, everything has its time. I categorically do not advise talking about demons, about hell with preschoolers (and sometimes even with younger students). Telling them about the Christian faith, you need to talk about Christ, about love and joy, about victory - over sin, over death. By the way, this also applies to children's prayers. The task of the parent and teacher is to create special conditions for children's prayer practice. It is necessary to exclude from it prayers that mention hellish torments, demons, and the like.
And if children have such questions (which is quite likely, it is impossible to create a completely sterile environment for them, they will still hear from someone somewhere), then you need to answer thoughtfully. First of all, they need to be told that Christ is always there, that He will always protect from any evil, if you ask Him about it. The emphasis should not be on the existence of demons and hell, but on the fact that the Christian has powerful protection. And in no case do not scare! And further: “but if adults act incorrectly, if they scare children, then as a result, they may develop a sense of guilt towards their parents, grandparents, teachers, and they are not able to cope with this feeling of guilt, it puts pressure on them, generates increased anxiety, and increased anxiety creates a negative emotional background.
relive it long time very difficult, and the child's psyche begins to defend itself. Namely: the child consciously chooses objects of fear for himself and considers them the sources of his anxiety and feelings of guilt. For example, he thinks: if I offended my mother, then the demons in hell will torment me with hooks and burn me with fire. Or: if I deceived someone, then the devil will come to me at night and torment me. That is, this is an attempt by the child to somehow rationalize his anxious state, to somehow explain to himself what is happening to him and why. This is often the mechanism of the birth of children's fears.
Of course, it is impossible to frighten children with hellish torments for untidy toys and demons for bad behavior. As well as to dissemble that all obedient children will go to heaven. Speaking of hell and heaven, it must be said that heaven is a place of eternal joy with God, angels and saints. And hell is a place without God, from which there is darkness and longing. This place is not for people, but for fallen angels, demons. And people throughout their lives always make a choice with whom they should be, with God, or with his opponent. So hell has no power over us if we ourselves do not choose it with our evil deeds. In any case, it is necessary to focus the attention of children on the love of God and His boundless mercy towards us.
Archpriest Elijah Zubriy, rector of the Church of St. John the Theologian in the village. Bogoslovskoe-Mogiltsy:
“In order not to scare the image of hell, parents must understand that it is important for a child to feel from childhood, to know that he is very much loved. Relations with the Heavenly Father, a growing person very much focuses on relationships with earthly parents. It is no coincidence that the Lord singles out among other commandments the commandment to honor parents in such a way that he promises prosperity and longevity for her. Because it is impossible to build a relationship with the Heavenly Father without building it with an earthly father. Therefore, when a child grows up and is punished, but he knows and sees that it is done with love, if the parents do not live for themselves, but show by their example what sacrificial true love then it grows in joy, peace and quiet. And if you tell him that God is love, it will be clear to him. It is necessary to emphasize that the Lord is the one who is looking for an opportunity to have mercy on a person, and not looking for a reason to punish him.
Lent is the time when we try to tell our children about the Resurrection of Christ, about the fall of man, about the Last Judgment, about what will happen to us after death, about hell and heaven. At what age and what exactly should we tell children about this, so as not to scare them with terrible images, on the one hand, and so that ideas about paradise are not reduced to descriptions of carnal pleasures (as his parents told one boy: “Paradise is such a beautiful garden, where there are many flowers, and sweets and buns grow on trees”)? We asked two priests to talk about what and how to tell the children.
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Codex Aureus Epternacensis, 1035-1040)
Archpriest Elijah Zubriy, rector of the Church of St. John the Theologian in the village. Bogoslovskoye-Mogiltsy, Deputy Director for Spiritual and Moral Education at the Pleskovo Gymnasium, father of eight children:
« General recommendations when and what to tell a child about hell and heaven is difficult to give. Because the parent of his child knows best of all and he himself must determine when and what his child will understand, and the parent is responsible for this.
Do not be afraid of such a topic. It seems to me that the most convenient and reasonable way to start this conversation would be to read the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Everything is calmly and clearly described.
Before such a responsible conversation, you must definitely pray, and find those few, but the right words. To say that paradise is a place of eternal joy with God, angels and saints. And hell is a place without God, from which there is darkness and longing. This place is not for people, but for fallen angels, demons. And people throughout their lives always make a choice with whom they should be, with God, or with his opponent. So hell has no power over us if we ourselves do not choose it with our evil deeds.
In these conversations, constancy and consistency are important so that children catch the connection of biblical events, you can read small passages from the Law of God for children before going to bed.
Archpriest Theodore Borodin, rector of the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian on Maroseyka, father of seven children:
“It seems to me that the child needs to be explained what hell and heaven are, first of all, based on the words of Christ “The Kingdom of God is within you” and say that hell and heaven are the inner state of a person that will remain with him after his death. . And how this will happen, how it will look, is largely unknown to us, the Lord did not reveal this to us.
You can try to explain that this is a state that happens when you quarreled with mom or dad or brother, when you lied, when you are terribly ashamed, because some kind of nasty act of yours was revealed at school, and the state in which you at this time you are - anger, despondency, alienation from loved ones, isolation in yourself - this is a weak echo of the one in which a person who has lost the Kingdom of God will remain.
And since man is both a spiritual and bodily being, and in the resurrection man will be restored in the body, then, apparently, these violations will also be reflected in the human body, in some way unknown to us. When a person has darkness in his soul, his body cannot experience joy.
One can also say that a person, in his state, can simply not withstand the proximity of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. If we imagine a criminal, a criminal who spent most of his life in prison, and imagine that we could place him with Sergius of Radonezh in his first monastic community, he would hardly have survived even three days among these people. All this would have become boring, insipid and uninteresting for him, although he would have been fed and helped there, but he would have run away from there, because it was unbearable for him, and found some tavern where he would feel at home.
You can explain to children that hell is a state when you are in a quarrel, separation, irritation with someone, because in hell everyone is constantly angry and annoyed with each other, and we can’t even imagine the level of that anger. When a person is in such a state, he can feel what hell is. It is no coincidence that the practice of preparing for holy communion requires a person to first reconcile, and only then - not even take communion and not go to the liturgy - but only begin to read prayers for holy communion. You can’t even read these prayers while you are not in the world, because the state of a person taking communion is a state of paradise, and the state of a quarrel is a state of hell, separation from other people.
It is impossible to name a certain age from which one should start talking about hell and heaven. Probably, it very much depends on how the Christian understanding of life is formed in a child. For example, we see that there is a child who begins to confess very sincerely at the age of 6-7 or at 8 years old, and there is a child from a church family who comes to real confession at 15 years old or never comes to it at all, does not survive it. . This suggests that a person does not experience sin as a wound, as pain. And it is difficult to talk about hell with him, because hell is still the result of human sins. You can’t call a moment when you can sit a child in front of you and start saying “hell is this and heaven is this”, but answering questions if he starts asking them, probably, can be conditionally from the age of 7, and more precisely, from the age when a person begins to understand sin as separation from God and as pain, even remotely.
In order not to be frightened by the image of hell, parents must understand that it is important for a child to feel from childhood, to know that he is very much loved. Relations with the Heavenly Father, a growing person very much focuses on relationships with earthly parents. It is no coincidence that the Lord singles out among other commandments the commandment to honor parents in such a way that he promises prosperity and longevity for her. Because it is impossible to build a relationship with the Heavenly Father without building it with an earthly father. Therefore, when a child grows up and is punished, but he knows and sees that this is done with love, if the parents do not live for themselves, but show by their example what sacrificial true love is, then he grows in joy, peace and tranquility. And if you tell him that God is love, it will be clear to him. It is necessary to emphasize that the Lord is the one who is looking for an opportunity to have mercy on a person, and not looking for a reason to punish him.
On a quiet Saturday evening, Kolka went to heaven. We met him warmly. They were led to the very gates, they gave a young, novice angel in white clothes and with golden hair as guides.
First, the angel took him to the cloakroom attendant. Kolka, now Nikolai, was given blue clothes.
“Then you can get something else if you want.”
She and the angel descended the marble steps down. Nikolay found himself in a small town immersed in greenery - nightingales were flooding in the bushes, roses, jasmine, violets were blooming, tiled roofs were peeking out of the apple-colored haze. Barely touching the ground with their feet, girls in pink robes ran, followed by two, animatedly talking about something.
The angel touched Nikolai by the sleeve:
- I have to show you the house where you will live.
They walked along cozy clean streets, more like village ones. It was easy to go - apparently, the laws of physics did not apply to paradise. So five minutes later, Earth time, they were already approaching a one-story little house with a dovecote and a cherry orchard.
- This is my home?!
- Yes. You should like it. We have taken into account all your tastes. Even the neighbors were selected according to your psychological make-up: one of them, for example, is an avid chess player, the other is a Rammstein fan in the past, however, now his tastes have changed somewhat, but we thought that you would find mutual language. You will get to know the rest yourself.
The angel looked into his notebook: - Oh, sorry, they call me.
He was about to vanish into thin air...
- Wait, I wanted to ask.
- Listen, - the angel politely stopped disappearing.
How do you know what can and cannot be done? - asked Nikolai.
The angel smiled condescendingly at the newcomer's question:
- You can do whatever you want.
- What about apples? There must be a forbidden apple tree here.
- No, they moved her to a safe place. Eat apples as much as you like, no one will say a word to you. True, as far as I know, you prefer cherries.
Nikolay nodded his head, smiling.
“Don't worry, you,” the angel reassured him, “I'll come back in the evening. According to the charter, I must visit you every day for a week to help at first.
* * *
Gradually, Nikolai settled down in paradise. He was given a non-dusty job: he became a cloud driver. In the morning he received an appointment - over which place on the globe he needed to hover in order to provide a light warm rain. The only difficulty was to keep the cloud from melting. At first, it didn’t work out very smoothly, and Nikolai often had to make a request for a new cloud. But soon Nikolai learned to save the cloud and even defended his thesis on new methods of working with rain clouds in the field.
In the evenings he rested with friends. The neighbors were really very interesting people, especially a former lover of the Rammstein group. He worked as a driver of a thundercloud and now preferred the music of Beethoven, because he found in it a lot in common with his work.
When he wanted intellectual pursuits, Nikolai went to a neighbor who was a chess player.
I climbed the dovecote with my neighbor Masha - a ten-year-old girl with red ponytails.
He even started dating a sweet girl Natasha, who worked as a meadow angel - she scattered seeds that sprouted on the ground like daisies and cornflowers. Relations were the most tender. They were not spoiled even by purely scientific disputes. For example, what is more important: plant a chamomile or water it with a light warm rain so that it does not wither. Nikolai believed that it was more important to plant a flower, otherwise there would be no flower anyway, but for some reason Natasha believed that watering a flower was more important, as if she herself worked on a cloud.
One day, Nikolai and Natasha were walking in a paradise park.
“You know,” Nikolai suddenly stopped, “but I feel sorry for those who ended up in hell.
- Why? Natasha also stopped and looked at him in surprise.
- Well, you see, we now live in the Gardens of Eden, we have everything; we are good. But how do they live! They experience pain and deprivation. They are probably starving, but they cannot die of hunger. The devils fry them on a slow fire. But they are still people. That's a pity for them.
- It's a pity, of course. But what can you do - they deserve it, - Natasha sighed, - they were warned on earth what would happen if they did not improve.
- Yes you are right. They were warned, - Nikolai smiled. - Let's go to the cinema?
They spent the rest of the evening having fun, but at night, left alone, Nikolai thought again.
"Maybe they were warned badly, they didn't tell everything. For example, I also don't know how people live in hell. But I can imagine."
With these thoughts he fell asleep. All night he was tormented by nightmares and did not leave the question: how can people be warned?
In the morning, as if by order, an angel appeared. Nikolai was in a hurry to work, but an angel stopped him:
- Do not rush. Come with me.
Nikolai was surprised, but did not show it. Together with the angel, he went out into the street. The sun was shining brightly, the cherries in his garden were already turning red with juicy barrels. People went about their business, smiled and greeted Nicholas and his escort with smiles. Singing a song, Mashenka rushed past with a pail full of seeds.
They went outside the town and along the path through the field with manna from heaven came to a large white building with twelve columns. On the building was written in gold letters: "School of Angels."
Here they stopped, and his guide said:
- You wanted to help people, warn them about Gehenna Fiery, about the torments of hell.
- Maybe it's forbidden? Nikolai looked at the angel guiltily.
- No no. Of course, it is not forbidden, but even encouraged, - the angel soothingly patted his shoulder with a wing. - But the whole point is that warnings, revelations, signs are a responsible matter, and special training is needed for this. That's why I brought you here. If you still want it, you will study, pass the exam and get new job- become an angel. This is a very difficult and honorable job. Well, do you want this?
Nicholas thought for a while and said firmly: - Yes.
* * *
“Today is your last lesson,” the archangel said slowly. “For a year now, you have been listening to my boring lectures and cramming the laws and rules of philanthropy. But today's lesson will be the most important. At the exam, I will ask what each of you learned from it for yourself. By the way, I repeat once again, the exam is tomorrow. I take throughout the day. Those who do not pass the exam - I hope there will not be such - will be able to pass it in a year, after listening to the entire course of lectures again.
Well, now each of you will be entrusted to the guardianship of the guardian angels who were your mentors at first. It is they who will give you the final lesson.
The audience made a noise as they folded their notebooks. Everyone went out into the yard. His angel appeared in front of Nicholas and asked with a good-natured smile:
- Well, are you ready for the exam?
- Actually, I'm a little worried, but I'm ready.
- Wonderful. I know that I was not wrong about you. Okay, now about the main thing. Today we have a visit to hell. You must smear yourself with this ointment in order to remain unnoticed by its inhabitants, - the angel handed Nikolai a small jar with a golden substance.
Soon they left paradise and began to descend down the mountain path. It took a long time to descend, then they climbed a steep slope and descended again. At last the travelers reached the gates of hell.
- When we enter there - no sound. All questions - then - warned the angel.
Nikolai nodded in agreement, and together they entered the gate, went down the marble steps.
In front of them lay a small town, immersed in greenery - nightingales were flooding in the bushes, roses, jasmine, violets were blooming, tiled roofs were peeking out of the apple-colored haze ...
Nikolai looked at the angel in surprise, but he only made a sign: "Be quiet" - and pointed to the side. A group of people approached them: they walked in silence and angrily looked at each other.
The whole day, Nikolai looked around the town, but did not see a single satisfied face. Gloomy, gloomy crowds only spoiled the beauty that surrounded them with their appearance. The clouds driven by them poured boring, fruitless rains onto the earth. Chamomile seeds, reaching the ground, turned into thorns. The apple and cherry trees entrusted to their care did not bear fruit.
Only outside the gates, Nikolai was able to breathe freely. For several minutes he stood silently, and then asked the angel:
- These people are very unhappy, but what is their punishment, because they live in the same conditions as we do - in paradise?!
The angel looked at him thoughtfully and answered:
- They are tormented by the consciousness that in paradise - better.
Sometimes even adults will not immediately say what heaven is and what hell is, how sin differs from an accidental offense, what true love is from the point of view of Orthodoxy.
But the students from the Sunday school of our church will not only give a definition, but also explain why everything is this way and not otherwise.
For example, at the last lesson, which took place last Sunday, the guys from the senior class, with the help of teacher Maria Abramova, reasoned about what sin is, when people first sinned, how did God punish them for this? It would seem, how to talk to children from 10 to 16 years old on such complex topics? Just! The main thing is to construct a lesson in an unusual way.
- We started this lesson with riddles, answering which the guys themselves guessed what we would talk about today. The reasoning of the children was accompanied by understandable slides and comics. With the younger group (from 6 to 9 years old) we work on the same principle, but I talk with them even more plain language- says Maria Abramova.
By the way, the guys figured out the question of what sin is quite quickly, remembering the Old Testament story about the fall of man together with the teacher.
Children also learned what sinful passions are and how they differ from ordinary sins, easily listing the main ones with the help of interesting clues - illustrations of sinful cats by artist Maria Tyurina.
It was not difficult for them to define the word hell. The abyss, the darkness - it's all right. But, when one of the students said that hell is a place where there is no God, the other children nodded their heads in unison, and the teacher confirmed that it was impossible to say more precisely.
But the guys had to think about what true love and freedom are. It seems that these words in our life are much more common than others, but it was with them that a hitch arose. To be honest, I, a third-party listener, also thought. After all, very often we casually call bad habits love, for example, when we say: “I like to drink a glass of wine after a hard day.” Here the teacher came to the rescue.
“True love, which God gave to humanity, can only be manifested in freedom. In freedom of choice. A person is free to choose between being with God or not, - Maria Abramova tried to explain important concepts in our life from the point of view of Orthodoxy.
In continuation of the discussion of the topic, in order for the guys to better learn the lesson, they were offered to watch a short film by Alexander Kushnir based on the story of Leo Tolstoy “How do people live?”.
This is a parable about how God sent an angel to earth to take away the soul of a woman whose husband died and two children were born. The angel disobeyed and was cast out of heaven. He was warmed by a poor shoemaker who lives in the village with his wife. To return to heaven, the angel will have to find out the answer to three questions, then God will forgive him. What is in people? What is not given to people? How are people alive?
And now the angel lives in the shoemaker's house, helping as an apprentice, and reflects on life. What is the movie about? Of course, about love. A person, no matter what troubles he has to go through, loves another person. Utopia? Undoubtedly. But there is something in it. There must be something. Otherwise, how to live in the world, what to believe and whom to believe.
The film, perhaps, was difficult for children, but after watching it, to the question: “Guys, how do you think people are alive?”, The students unanimously answered: “Love”.
A master class on making a magnet in the form of a butterfly helped the children of the Sunday school to switch from the thought process to the Sunday mood.
By the way, if you think that your child will also benefit from lessons about good and evil, bring him to Sunday school. There are no recording time limits here. You just need to call the teacher Maria Abramova at 8-963-809-45-40.