Training Them Young

Tonight I went into a Christian bookstore, looking for a Book of Common Prayer. I'd checked Barnes and Noble, but couldn't fine one. Strangely enough, the staff at the Christian bookstore couldn't find one either, though two appeared on their computer screens. This is strange to me because it seems like the Book of Common Prayer is something that's been around for a very long time, and shouldn't be so mysterious...

Anyway, while I was searching the store for it, something funny happened. There was a smallish boy, maybe four years old, walking through the aisles. As he passed the books of sheet music, he stopped, pointed to one, and looked around for his mom. He couldn't see her right away, so basically just into the air he said "This isn't a Christian book!" And then he kept shouting it, like he expected someone to run and grab it and throw it on the book-burning pile. "This isn't a a Christian book, this isn't a Christian book!"

It made me laugh out loud, but then I was thinking...how in the world did he make that determination? He couldn't have been older than 4 or 5. And why was it so disturbing to him? It's quite scary to see a 4 year old that freaked out about "secular" sheet music. Nearly as scary as the scripture mints near the door.