WHAT IS GOD DOING TODAY?; Talks With Parents and Children

The twenty-nine short homilies offered here were first delivered at Sunday morning services in St. James Episcopal Church in New York City. They are gathered now for three potential groups of readers: speakers for Sunday morning family services or for chapel services in church or preparatory schools; parents seeking materials for family reading and discussion; and questioning youth, ages ten to fifteen. A memorable Biblical incident is taken as the base for each talk. The story is retold colloquially; and a brief concluding paragraph raises, in one way or another, the question of what God may be doing today which is analogous to the Biblical report. The result, however, dissipates the original's numinous power to evoke belief; and the colloquial version opens the door to doubts of a factual character that undercut the applications. For readers of a believing frame of mind, this consequence may not be too hampering; others may find the approach too naive, even for today's adolescents.