Religious stories for children

By Immy Looker

Stories

• There are millions of stories around the world to do with religion. Some are not so obviously to do with religion and some are the famous stories, like the creation story.

An Muslim’s lesson• About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college, I was working as a cashiers at my University's

Museum of Natural History. One day while working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair.

As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was kind of perched on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots.

As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the register. I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink. As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving me the cutest, largest smile I have ever seen. All of a sudden her handicap was gone and all I saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted me and almost instantly gave me a completely new sense of what life is all about. She took me from a poor, unhappy college student and brought me into her world; a world of smiles, love and warmth.

That was ten years ago. I'm a successful business person now and whenever I get down and think about the troubles of the world, I think about that little girl and the remarkable lesson about life that she taught me.

• That lesson could have been a message from Allah, he will never know. Either way it changed his life for the better

A classic Christian • The beginning of the bible starts with these words, "In the beginning God created the

heavens and the earth." This summarizes the drama that was about to unfold. We learn from the text that the earth was formless, empty, and dark, and God's Spirit moved over the waters preparing to perform God's creative Word. And then God began to speak into existence his creation. The day by day account follows:

• Day 1 - God created light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light "day" and darkness "night."

• Day 2 - God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it "sky." • Day 3 - God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry ground

"land," and the gathered waters "seas." On day three, God also created vegetation (plants and trees).

• Day 4 - God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night. These would also serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years.

• Day 5 - God created every living creature of the seas and every winged bird, blessing them to multiply and fill the waters and the sky with life.

• Day 6 - God created the animals to fill the earth. On day six, God also created man and woman (Adam and Eve) in his own image to commune with him. He blessed them and gave them every creature and the whole earth to rule over, care for, and cultivate.

• Day 7 - God had finished his work of creation and so he rested on the seventh day, blessing it and making it holy.