I had an 'interesting' conversation today about all age worship with someone who isn't keen on the idea.  All of which got me wondering how the gospels might have looked if Jesus hadn't been so keen either...

And immediately it came to pass that, after these things, people were bringing their children to Jesus for him to bless them.  Some of the babies were hungry so they cried; some of the toddlers were tired, so they grizzled; some of the parents were at their wits' end so they snapped at their little ones.  And Jesus was much miffed at the interruption to the (three chapters long) sermon he was preaching and glowered at parents and children alike.  His voice rose in volume and pitch as he uttered 'let the little ones come unto to me for a maximum of fifteen minutes then take them away for age-appropriate entertainment so that the adults get their turn uninterrupted by grizzles and wails and, heaven forbid, breast-feeding.'  And the parents' faces spoke volumes, and the toddlers wept because they had been promised stories, and the babies sensed the atmosphere and wailed all the louder.  And it came to pass that, after these things, upon the green grass where the multitude had gathered, there were no children, and no parents and the crowd grew ever quieter and smaller - but at least Jesus could be heard by those who remained...

Thank goodness it wasn't like that.

I do appreciate that wails and grizzles can be distracting, that children do need to learn that worship is not play time (though hopefully it can be fun) and that some people are embarrassed by 'mothers of today' who feed in public.  But what really winds me up isn't any of the above - it's the fifty-pluses who chatter all through the service, root through their bags for their offering during the intercessions and moan about the hymn choices.  So now you know!

Next challenge - how to explain this graciously....!

I know this is very much a minority voice, and I do want to respond kindly, but it's not so easy when I am convinced that the way we have collectively agreed to go in this respect is so utterly right and so utterly gospel.

OK. Rant over.