“So out of the ground God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.” Genesis 2:19

This Monday began early. I was trying to get into the office before all the children arrived for this week’s Vacation Bible School. I always love this week when the whole shape of the energy in the church gets upended with the enthusiasm and spirit of the children. It is easy in the summer to get into a routine, a rut, of a slower pace. People are on vacation. There are not as many people coming in and out of the church building during the week or on Sundays for that matter. So, Vacation Bible School becomes the late summer shot in the arm to wake us all up to the approaching fall.

I was driving along Highway 62 going West when I heard a siren behind me. I saw the seas beginning to part behind me and I followed suit, allowing a State Highway Patrol car to whiz by toward an accident up ahead. That’s when I saw it. Coming east, in the opposite direction, a silver pickup truck was hauling a flatbed. Sitting on the flatbed was the upper part of the body, neck and head of a dinosaur, a Brontosaurus. Its head was poised above the traffic, speeding along, seeming to shout, ‘Look at me! Look at me!’ I dissolved into laughter.

What a great way to start a Monday morning! The sight of the dinosaur prepared me for the fresh faces, laughter and joy of the children. I thought back to when our sons went through what I always referred to as their ‘dinosaur period.’ Sometime around five or six years old most children discover dinosaurs and they are captivated with them. For several weeks, sometimes months, children will pour over picture books of these enormous, prehistoric creatures. I have always thought that the fascination comes, not only from the sheer size and mystery of the animals, but from their names. The children simply like the power of saying words like Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Triceratops. As those who are in a free fall of language development, these big words are powerful symbols that their brains are bigger than the animals they are naming.

So the sight of this creature this morning riding along at the speed limit not only made me laugh but made me wonder. Maybe the kids at Vacation Bible School might also like to learn some Big Bible names. Words like Deuteronomy and Ecclesiastes or Nehemiah  and the ever popular Leviathan. It could add a whole new wrinkle to the week. Maybe I’ll suggest it to the teachers.

But no matter what, I will still have the image of that dinosaur flying by, the image that got my day off to a great start.