Time With the Children
There’s a wonderful book called “In God’s Name” that is written by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso illustrated by Phoebe Stone. In the beginning of the book there’s a quote “The voice of God is the uniqueness of each and every person. The Holy One said: “Do not be confused because you hear many voices. Know that I am One and the same.” (Pesikta de Rav Kahana 12:25) This quote so beautifully sets the pace for the book - for in the story no one knows the name for God and each one searches for God’s name. Each calls God something different - like the farmer says ‘Source of Life’ and the golden girl ‘Creator of Light’ and the man who tended sheep ‘shepherd’, and on and on….. Eventually all the people try to tell one another that their name for God is the best and only name and that the others are wrong. “But no one listened. Least of all, God. Then one day all the people who called God by a different name came together and knelt by a clear and quiet lake - it was like a mirror, God’s mirror -and they saw all their faces - “and they all called out their names for God - Source of Life, Creator of Light, Shepherd, Maker of Peace, My Rock, Healer, Redeemer, Ancient One, Comforter, Mother, Father, Friend - all at the same time. At that moment, the people knew that all the names for God were good, and no name was better than another. Then all at once their voices came together and they called God One.”
