G (the 5 and a half year old) and I just had the following conversation:
G: Oh good, we get to go to the later service today…
Me: Why’s that good?
G: Because it’s later—we get to sleep in more!
Me: So, what are the differences between the early and late services?
G: Well, the later service starts later.
Me: Is that the only difference?
G (thinking): Well—the early service is shorter and the later one is longer.
Me: Is there any difference in, oh say, the language between the two?
G: …No.
The earlier service is our Rite I without music; the later service is the Rite II with music. I find this fascinating. My pre-school/early school-aged children see no distinction between Rites I & II, or at least can’t come up with it at the Sunday morning breakfast table.
Hmmm…
Derek,
If, as is likely in your household, your daughters have been raised with Elizabethan/Jacobean English from the start, in many ways it would be like having a second language in ways similar to C knowing bits of Plattdutch (Low German). They would not notice the difference because they would not be having to translate anything due to the formation both orally and aurally that took place when their brains are at their most flexible for this.
Now, I grew up from very young reading King James, so Shakespeare didn’t throw me off. Many of my classmates, however, had a time of it.
On the other hand, Rite I and Rite II have some very distinct theological emphases, and yet, at the heart of them sits that Anglican emphasis on God’s mercy. You should ask about this…
you would think music/no music would make a difference. hmmm.
i chuckled at christopher’s comment because I had the same experience with shakespeare, owing to my king james upbringing.
She could have said that people in the morning are too tired to say their words correctly. ;-)
I think it’s one of those Piaget things, probably….