Thursday, March 29, 2007

Seven-year-olds on THE SECRET

Tuesday evening, Ben brought home a copy of Dr. Al Mohler's March 27th article about the New York Times number one best-seller, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. I was flabbergasted, and immediately decided I would read portions of her book to my first grade class and see what they had to say.

Wednesday morning, after a brief preface about the book, I read to them:
"Thoughts are magnetic and thoughts have a frequency. As you think, those thoughts are sent out into the Universe, and they magnetically attract all like things that are on the same frequency. Everything sent out returns to its source. And the source is you."

"You are the most powerful magnet in the Universe! You contain a magnetic power within you that is more powerful than anything in this world, and this unfathomable magnetic power is emitted through your thoughts."

"Every negative thought, feeling, or emotion is blocking your good from coming to you, and that includes money."

"You are God in a physical body. You are spirit in the flesh. You are Eternal Life expressing itself as You. You are a cosmic being. You are all power. You are all wisdom. You are all intelligence. You are perfection. You are magnificence. You are the creator, and you are creating the creation of You on this planet."

"The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret."

I read each sentence and then paused to let them respond. The room was filled with horrified gasps and mocking giggles. A few of the students even timidly used the s word--"That lady is...stupid!" As I read on, the students began to answer every sentence with a loud "No!" In response to her, they remembered some of the verses we've memorized this year: that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," that "from Him and through Him and to Him are all things," and that "the heavens are telling of the glory of God." I was thrilled! Then Hannah raised her hand and said, "She needs to read Psalm 100: "It is He who has made us and not we ourselves" (which just happened to be her assigned section of the Psalm we've been practicing).

Another child mumbled that "She's going to have to pay for this."

"What?" I asked.

She sadly replied, "She's going to be put to death."

"Who will put her to death?"

"God will."

So again, a seven-year-old has reminded me that the proper Christian response is one of compassion. I took the opportunity to remind them that God is true to His word: that sin deserves death and that if Mrs. Byrne never hears the gospel, never believes, repents, or gives her whole life to Jesus, she will pay for her sins by eternal death in hell. I encouraged them to pray for her, that someone would share the right Gospel with her and that she would believe and repent. I encouraged them to pray for all the people who read her book, that they would know that it is full of nonsense and not be deceived by her words. Sam raised his hand and asked if he could pray.

I am really thankful for the opportunity God has given me with this book and Dr. Mohler's article to assess the worldview of my first grade class. I'm so excited that my 7-year-olds have grasped some basic Biblical truths about God and his world and can recognize error when they hear it. This has to be the heart of true Christian education, and at moments like these--boy, am I glad to be an educator!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

way to rep the fam, wifey

Anonymous said...

amen...i LOVED it!

EmmyJMommy said...

Now that is REALLY what I can't wait for Emily Grace to learn from you...not only your quirkiness in elbow-pits, but your unwavering devotion to teaching them Biblical truths and the whole Word of God!

Can't wait!!!! (I know you don't think I'm excited about next year!)

~~em

Anonymous said...

Thank you. A great post. It's sad to think the author was/is so deluded may God yet gloriously save her!

Jonathan said...

Great blog. I'll have to add you to my blogroll.

Blessings.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm... the raising of kids in truth, gotta love it. I wish my teacher was a Robinson while I was growing up. Rep the fam sister (sorry Ben, had to steal it).