In the previous chapter we defined ritual as anything that we do again and again, usually without thinking about it. They ask for old familiar stories. But they only want these for a few minutes, and very soon they want to do something else. As they get older the previous rituals will seem childish. They will enjoy a newer rock song about Jesus' coming into our violent world.
Children also like to move around.
Expecting them to sit through a long service, sermons without illustrations, and interminable prayers, is a sure way to put them off church for the next thirty years. Some of them might eventually come back when they have ceased to be childlike and are bored enough to join in our geriatric activities. Children love stories. And strangely enough when stories are told in a sermon that is what the adults remember. Which is why instead of sermons Jesus told parables.