Easter and the Wingfeather Saga - spoilers-

I teach kids church at my church, and this morning I got to reference the Wingfeather Saga in my lesson! Unfortunately, most of the kids hadn't gotten far enough in the books to quite understand the reference, but most of them are reading the books or watching the show, so they'll get there. :) And my own kids understood!

"Sing the song of the ancient stones, and the blood of the beast imbues your bones."

Sin is NASTY! At the beginning of creation, people were perfect, just the way God had created them to be. And in this state, they got to walk with God in the garden and talk to him face to face! But, "sing the song of the ancient stones," or, "disobey God," and "sin will imbue your bones - and more." That sin went bone-deep, and more, soul-deep. No longer were we what God had intended. No more could we walk with God and see him face to face. They, and we, were "fanged;" we didn't even have the ability to choose to be good anymore. God in his mercy dwelled with his people in the tabernacle, and later the temple, but there was a reason for that huge curtain separating the people from the place where God put his presence - so the people wouldn't DIE!!! (Sin can't come near God's presence. Those sinful people who tried had a tendency to drop dead.)

But now - if we accept God's forgiveness and let Jesus' blood imbue our bones - and soul - we can once again come directly into the presence of God - without dying!!! 😃

Of course, I didn't use this last part of the Wingfeather story in my lesson since most of the kids haven't gotten that far yet and it's not a perfect example; Janner is not Jesus nor does he represent Jesus - Janner is just as broken and weak as everyone else in that broken world. But I think his encounter with the Maker changed him enough to make him want to act as his Maker does. The same should be true for us. As we spend time in God's presence, we should also let him change us to make us more like him, so that we act as he does, because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Also, one of my very favorite parts of the Easter story is when the curtain in the temple ripped from top to bottom! We had to demonstrate that in church today by having a big piece of fabric separating everyone from a big poster board labeled "God," and then having a couple of kids rip it in half. That was fun!