A Puppet Show on Wonder

Puppet Show

October 17, 2012

A lesson in Wonder

Father Phil:  Boys and Girls, I want to introduce to you the famous Roary the Lion.  Here’s Roary!

Roary:  Roar!  Roar!  Hello boys and girls.  How are you today?  Roar!  I want to play a game.

Father Phil:  Roary, what game do you want to play?

Roary:  Let’s play “Stump Father Phil”

Father Phil:   Stump Father Phil.  Can you tell these children what that means?

Roary:  Stump Father Phil means that I am going to ask you questions that you can’t answer.

Father Phil:  Are you sure?  How will you know that I don’t know the answer.

Roary:  Well, I bet I can make you say, “HMMM, I wonder.”  And make you stroke your chin.  Here’s the first question.  How many stars are in the sky?

Father Phil:  Hmmm, I wonder!

Roary:  See I gotcha.  How many leaves are on all of the trees in Morgan Hill?

Father Phil:  Hmm, I wonder!

Roary:  I Gotca again!  How many leaves of grass are on the front lawn?

Father Phil:  Hmm, I wonder!

Roary:  I Gotch again!  I am stumping you Father Phil.

Father Phil:  Well, you are stumping these boys and girls too.  The boys and girls have been stroking their chins too and saying, “Hmmm, I wonder.”

Roary:  Well, you know learning in life is about wonder.  I wonder about numbers and letters and when I wonder I want to learn.  And all of these boys and girls are coming to school because they wonder about many, many things.

Father Phil:  Wonder is a wonderful thing.  Do you know another word for Wonder?  It is the word “Awe.”  Can you say awesome?

Roary:  Awesome!  I like that word.  I use it a lot.  I must have lots of wonder in me because I say Awesome all of the time.  Can the children say “Awesome?”

All:  Awesome!

Father Phil:  We say that God is so big and great and we say that God is Awesome.  If God made this world, the trees, the stars and the sky of outer space then God is bigger and greater than this world.

Roary:  So can we say that God and this world are Awesome?

Father Phil:  Yes we can!  God is Awesome.  This world is Awesome.

Roary:  What holiday is coming up?

Father Phil:  Children, what holiday is coming up?  Halloween.

Roary:  At Halloween some people talk about being frightened and saying “boo.”  Even though I am a strong lion, I still don’t like to be frightened.

Father Phil:  Do you know that there is a good way to be scared?

Roary:  No, what is a good way to be scared?

Father Phil:  The good way to be scared is to have wonder.  When we have wonder we drop our jaws and we say Wow!  That awesome.

Roary:  Well, I like wonder and awesome better than being scary.

Father Phil:  Well, I think that means that we can have an awesome and wonderful Halloween and not a scary Halloween.

Roary:  Boys and Girls, do you want to have a wonderful and awesome Halloween?

Father Phil:  Roary, you’re awesome!  Thank you.  Boys and Girls can you say, “Roary, you’re awesome!”  Let’s give Roary a big hand.