Object: A picture of myself when I was four years old and my first grade report card.

Lesson: School; understanding; confession; compassion; revelation; unconditional love.

About twenty children have come forward at my invitation to sit on the chancel steps. I begin by asking, "Is anyone here this morning four years old?"

Brenda hesitatingly raises her hand. I acknowledge her response with a smile and direct my next comment to her. "I've got a surprise for you: I was four once! And I can prove it! I've brought a picture this morning which I'll ask Brenda to pass around so you can all take a closer look at it. It's a picture of me when I was four years old." As I pass the picture to Brenda, I recall how difficult it was for me as a child to imagine that adults had ever been children too;…