Craig doesn't have his own blog, but he knows he is always welcome to contribute a guest post to my blog. I guess he doesn't share my compulsion to share his thoughts with the Internet at large, however, because this post is only his second ever! (The first was three years ago.)
And so, here is Craig:
As some of you may know, Isaac’s bedtime routine ends with my singing him a few songs before leaving him to fall asleep. Over the course of his life I have sung him a wide variety of songs, from modified favorites like “Young MacIsaac” and “Skip to My Lou” to show tunes and Gilbert and Sullivan. As Isaac has become more insistent on understanding the songs, the nightly singing has also become a forum for learning about a surprising range of subjects. Perhaps you have never considered how you would explain a popular song to a four-year-old. Take “King of the Road” -- why are the stogies not too big around? Why are there no pets? How about “Blue-Tailed Fly”? -- why doesn’t he care? What is a master? If his master has gone away who will take care of him?
Songs also often stretch his ability to interpret motives -- Isaac nearly wept at “Charlie on the MTA” until he recognized it as a joke, and “Irish Rover” (one of his current favorites) is another lesson in untrustworthy narrators.
Our deepest discussions so far have stemmed from “Balm in Gilead.” Not the superficial questions -- what is a balm? or what is Gilead? -- but things like what is a soul, and how can it be sin-sick? Why do I “think my work’s in vain”? Why did he “die to save us all”? Like the best questions of a child, these demand deep self-examination before answering. I have to reconsider stories that I have long considered metaphorical, step back from my adult “demythologizing” and think about how God touches the soul of a child. The truths of God are revealed in strange ways, in parable and myth. How do I teach that to my literal-minded four-year-old?
-- Craig
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The Kingston Trio performing "Charlie on the M.T.A."
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The Pogues & the Dubliners performing "Irish Rover"
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