Introduction This is a book inspired by stories from the Bible. And what is the Bible? The Bible is a very old, very long book, made up of many different types of stories. Some of the stories are told through poems and songs, some are more like history lessons, some are official royal records, and some are letters. But they all work together to teach us what God is like. What is God like? Well, that is a big question with many lovely, complicated answers--answers that you will likely spend the rest of your life exploring, because most of the time, these stories don't just come right out and give us the answers. (That would be much easier.) Often they show more than they tell. And they present to us who God is through the history of God's family: people who were learning to trust God in the middle of their messy lives. They learned bits and pieces of who God is and they saved their stories for us to learn from. But God is too big to fit into even our most imaginative human words, so all throughout history, people who have tried to describe God say things like "God protects us like a mother bird sitting on her nest." Or "God is everywhere, like the wind." Or "God comforts us, like a hug." We've tried to display that too, in our different illustrations of God. We've imagined God with a face that frowns and smiles, with arms that help and hold, with a mouth to breathe and speak. In some stories, God is shown looking like a hovering bird, a covering cloud, or a brightening fire. But it's important to remember that we don't know what God looks like. We only know what God is like. So each picture is a beautiful, true idea for our eyes to rest on while our hearts do the important work of learning to trust God's big, mysterious fullness. One of the most special things about learning stories from the Bible is that they teach us about who we are. We get to learn the names God has for us, the people God made. The more we read the Bible, the more names we will learn. There are three big names that seem really special to God, three that show up again and again in the stories we've shared here: Belonging Is there anything more cozy than the feeling of belonging? A place especially for you that no one else could ever fill? Sometimes we feel it in our families or with our friends. Sometimes we feel it on our birthday or when we climb our favorite tree. The Bible is filled with stories of God telling God's people, "You belong with me!" No matter how lost or lonesome we feel, there is always a place for us with God. Beloved Love is the most powerful force in the universe. It is bigger and deeper and truer and brighter than we can understand. Beloved is really just a fancy way to say, "Someone Who Is Loved." Someone who is loved so thoroughly that it becomes who they are. It becomes their name. Here's something pretty amazing: God loves people so much that God says each and every one of us should have this name. Beloved Me, Beloved You, Beloved Us. We are all Beloved. Delightful You make God happy, just by being you. Before we did anything or said anything, God was delighted with us. But we often forget, and it trips us up! So the Bible is full of stories of God reminding people that they don't need to earn God's delight or hide when they make mistakes. They just have to trust God says that they Belong, they are Beloved, and they are Delightful. And while we're talking about names, you will notice that the names I've used in stories you are familiar with may look different. Mary is Miryam. John is Yokhanan. That's because I've decided to include the original names for these characters as they would have been known to the Bible writers and its original readers and to many people today around the world who speak Hebrew and Greek. One way to think about Bible reading is that the Bible can be a mirror and also a window. Like a mirror, the Bible should help us see ourselves. Just like the characters in the stories, we can follow God and learn to trust the names God calls us. But the Bible should also be a window, helping us see into an ancient Middle Eastern world that is probably very different from our own. By noting the original names, I hope to honor the people and traditions with whom these stories originated! Bible stories have been told and retold for thousands of years. There is so much to learn from each and every story. One of the most special things about the Bible is that we can learn something new and true from each retelling. Wise teachers have said it's as though people who love God take turns holding a big, beautiful gemstone. With each retelling, they turn it and we see God's light sparkle through in a new and different way. Whatever you learn from the way the gem turns in these stories, the biggest treasure I hope you find is this: God is trustworthy, and God's names for you are true. You Belong. You are Beloved. You are Delightful. Excerpted from The Book of Belonging: Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids by Mariko Clark All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
