“Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. “

I came upon these words this past week while reading CS Lewis’ classic story The Magician’s Nephew with my Secondary I class and was reminded of the awe-inspiring truth of humanity being made in the image of God. Midway through The Magician’s Nephew, Aslan sings creation into existence and then calls forth the talking animals to mirror him by commanding them to “Love. Think. Speak.”

CS Lewis’ imagined declaration to the animals reminded me of God’s call to live my life as an image-bearer of the One who created the world. Pondering on this further, I have been struck by the truth that the children in my life, whom I have been called to shepherd, are also made in God’s image and have been given the call to “Love. Think. Speak.”

Aslan’s declaration caused me to further ruminate on the importance of words and speech. Since God used words to bring the world into existence and since Jesus is “the Word made flesh,” I continue to remember that words matter.

We learn that the words we speak are vital when we observe in Scripture God acting for and speaking to his people, as well as God commanding and teaching them (and us) how to speak thoughtfully and with love. Although one cannot miss the importance of words when reading the book of Proverbs, I was recently reminded of this truth in Luke 6:45: “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (emphasis mine).

And once again, I am back to thinking about the children in my life. How do we help our children cultivate a good treasure and abundance in their hearts, so that the words they speak can mirror the God in whose image they were made? How do we slow down the influence of our culture’s onslaught of lies, slander, and greed in their lives?

We give them words that matter. We work at building up a good treasure in their hearts. We speak and act with creativity and intentionality. We help them “Love. Think. Speak.”

Over the past two months I have been working with our Secondary students on our production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. I produce plays because I firmly believe that we must give our students good stories to tell and our communities good stories to watch. We do this so that everyone can add to the good treasure in their hearts, minds and imaginations.

Shakespeare’s stories are universal; he deals with the human heart and all the glories and follies that are in it. But it is the words of Shakespeare that make us pause; we must pay close attention to what the characters are saying so that we can hear the truths, the loves, the humor, and the conflicts. Once we have grasped the ideas Shakespeare is sharing, we are richer in heart and mind.

Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s words from the book Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies also reminds me of how important it is for me, and everyone else shepherding and teaching children, to intentionally cultivate a culture that honors words. She writes in the book’s introduction “Why Worry About Words”:

“Words are entrusted to us as equipment for life together, to help us survive, guide, and nourish one another. We need to take the metaphor of nourishment seriously in choosing what we “feed on” in our hearts, and in seeking to make our conversation with each other life-giving… in early-English usage, conversation appears to have been a term that included and implied much more than it does now: to converse was to foster community, to commune with, to dwell in a place with others. Conversation was understood to be a life-sustaining practice.” (page 2)

As a wife, a parent, a church member, a teacher, an aunt, and a friend, I am called to the imaginative and intentional work of shepherding, in large and small ways, the hearts and minds of the children around me. And so are you. We need to make conversations with our children so that they can learn what it means to partake in the life-sustaining practice of using words that matter for the good of others.

But to converse with words that matter, they need to be given opportunities to add to the good treasure and abundance in their hearts. They need to be given a life of words so that they can “Love. Think. Speak.” in God-honoring and people-loving ways. They need deep recesses in their souls from which to draw life-giving ideas and words.

Here are a few suggestions as to how to add to the good treasure in the hearts of our children who bear the image of God:

1. Point them to Jesus.

Not only is the world giving them a tsunami of evil, their own hearts are sinful before the holy God who created them. They need Jesus. Disciple your child in the faith, so that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is their heart’s treasure of salvation and sanctification.

2. Read Scripture together.

Marvel at the stories of God acting throughout Biblical history; hone in on the wisdom; and be formed by the truths together.

3. Worship God and serve people together as a family.

Make Sunday worship services a priority; and make serving and fellowshipping together with others a part of your family culture. To gain a rich vision of the importance of worship for you and your children, read James K. A. Smith’s You are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit.

4. Read books out-loud to your children.

Even 10-minutes reading time after dinner can spark conversations and connections. If you need encouragement and ideas in this area I recommend the book The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah MacKenzie  and her podcasts Read-Aloud Revival.

5. Get outside together.

Taking hikes, walking the dog, doing yard work, or paddling a canoe can give you all the opportunity to observe and delight in the world around you.

6. Cultivate conversations around the dinner table.

Put aside grumbling and complaining, and seek to enter into the goodness of the day by recounting that for which you all can be grateful.

7. Set solid technology and social media boundaries for yourself and your children.

Discuss movies and books to help your children become discerning thinkers. Walt Mueller and the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding has many solid resources to help you foster good conversations about movies and music. How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide to Making Wise Media Choices is especially helpful. Andy Crouch sets forth a helpful vision for how to wisely deal with the reality of technology in his book The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place (I wish had had this book when my girls were younger and cell-phones were entering our lives.).

8. Don’t be afraid or bored by Shakespeare plays, classic poetry, symphonies, and museums.

Add to the treasure of goodness in your children’s hearts and minds by giving them opportunities to see and enjoy beauty, truth, and goodness. They need more than G-rated twaddle. They need richness. Just like they need fruits and vegetables to nourish their bodies, they need to welcome art in its various forms into their lives to nourish their souls.

Introduce your child to Shakespeare by bringing them out to see Veritas Academy's production of Much Ado About Nothing this weekend! Our theater department is staging it April 20 and 21 at Leola Elementary. We have a 30-member cast in the play, plus many students helping on crew. Our production is based in the 40’s, with added singing and dancing. We have edited it to be shorter than the original. Come out to enjoy the humor, the romance, and the drama. It will be one way to add to the treasure in your children’s hearts. It may even help you on your journey of cultivating goodness in your family culture, so that all of you, image bearers of God, may “Love. Think. Speak” to the glory of God.