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| Book cover for "The Storm That Stopped." |
I bought this book for my son: The Storm That Stopped [affiliate link], by Alison Mitchell. This book is from the "Tales That Tell the Truth" series, like "Jesus and the Lions' Den" which I also reviewed. The idea behind this series is taking bible stories which are not necessarily about Jesus and using them to teach a point about who Jesus is.
This book, "The Storm That Stopped," is an adaptation of Mark 4:35-41, when Jesus calms the storm. So this one actually is about Jesus. But it does more than just tell the story; at the end of the book, the last 5 pages tell us that the reason Jesus performed this miracle was to show the disciples who he is. Only God can calm a storm... and Jesus calmed a storm... therefore Jesus is God! So it's not just the bible story; it's the story plus an abstract point about who Jesus is.
This book is really good! If you follow my blog, you know I have a lot to say about how most bible stories have elements which are weird and problematic- but I don't think the story of Jesus calming the storm is problematic, so that's why this book rates so highly for me. I don't have a bunch of hot takes saying we shouldn't teach this story to children. No, this story is fine. So I think it works very well as a children's book.
There was one part I found extremely objectionable, though. So, Jesus and the disciples are on a boat in the middle of a lake, and there's a huge storm, and the disciples were terrified, but Jesus was sleeping. And here's what the book says:
The wind blew harder. The waves grew huger. The water filled the boat. But Jesus was still asleep.
"Jesus!"
"Wake up! Wake up!"
"We're drowning!"
"Don't you care?"
What a silly thing to say to Jesus! Of course he cared. He loved his friends so much that one day he was going to die for them.
I know this is my ex-evangelical trauma talking, but, this is beyond the pale. Policing people's emotions? Really? Someone's in a terrifying situation, and you shame them for having very reasonable feelings about it? Like they're wrong for observing that it seems like Jesus doesn't care what's happening. Like they should just "trust God" and not have feelings.
Evangelicalism is full of this kind of policing of emotions. God didn't answer your prayers because you didn't have the right kind of faith. Because you didn't have the right motives. God let bad things happen to you in order to teach you something, and if you didn't "trust God" in the middle of the situation, that's a sin. And if you come out of it angry at God, that's a sin. And if you do the right thing for the wrong reasons, that's a sin. And if something good happens, but you don't give credit to God, that's a sin, and God will probably sabotage your life to teach you a lesson. And if something makes you happy, better be careful that you don't end up loving it more than God, or else God will take it away. And if you really want something, then you're being selfish. And if someone hurts you, you have to forgive them right away; if you continue to be unhappy about it- if it causes you long-term trauma- then you're "bitter" and that's a sin too.
In evangelical ideology, it's a sin to have normal human emotions. People who quit being evangelical have to go through the whole process of learning how to feel their own feelings and know what they want. Because they were never allowed to have feelings (besides the feelings that God would want them to have) or want things.
So when I read this kids' book, and the disciples were scared and asked Jesus, "Don't you care?" and the book says that was "silly", I just... wow, this is not okay. I really do have trauma about this.
When I read this page to my son, I always stop and say that actually, it was totally fine for them to be scared and think that Jesus didn't care. So, as far as the impact on my son is concerned, I do think that fixes the problem. It's extremely harmful that the book says the disciples were being "silly" when they thought Jesus didn't care about them, but since it's just mentioned once and doesn't impact the rest of the story, it's an easy fix. I just tell my son that this part of the book is wrong, and it's totally normal for someone to feel like Jesus doesn't care, if they're in that situation. (And I think it's good for him to learn that just because something is in a book doesn't mean it's right.)
So overall, the book is good, but you DEFINITELY need to address that nonsense when you get to that page.
And let's talk about the part at the end, where the book says that the reason Jesus performed this miracle was to show the disciples that He is God. The last page says "Jesus is... GOD!" and I'm a Christian so I'm like "yeah!" but sometimes I also tell my son "yeah some people believe Jesus is God, but you don't have to." Honestly, I think this part of the book is too abstract for him and he doesn't get it. He's in preschool. He's more interested in the tangible parts of the story that he understands- boats, water, sleeping, etc.
In conclusion, this book has my ex-evangelical Christian stamp of approval- assuming, of course, that you stop and tell your kid it's okay for the disciples to be scared.
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Related:
"Jesus and the Lions' Den" (kids' book review)
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