A Child-Like Wonder

"And people were bringing children to Him that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He became indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.'  Then He embraced them and blessed them, placing His hands on them." -[Mark 10: 2-16].


To accept the Kingdom of God requires a child-like outlook.

Not childish. . . As St. Paul says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." -[ 1Corinthians 13].

There really IS such a thing as maturing as a Christian adult, but at the same time retaining a child-like wonder in one's Faith.

I see a lovely innocence in children. Young children do not accept anger or cruelty. When my son witnesses inconsiderate behavior, he wonders, "Why would that person behave this way?"

Young children appreciate Love and they expect it. A cynical adult will assume that others will behave with anger or greed, often before they even know that person or see how they behave.

Amongst moms I know, we discuss the timeline of that loss of precious innocence. In my part of the world, innocence starts to fade away around the age of 8 or 10. We moms mourn that loss of innocence, with an inner grief. We know the world will never be the same for our children. We want to soften the blow for our children, but we also want them to become realistic about our World.

What softens the blow for Christians is that we do not have to wait until the next Life or the Final Judgment Day for that in-breaking Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God can be NOW.

If we adults take the time to talk to the kids around us, I believe we can retain some of that child-like wonder. We cannot take our Faith seriously and believe in an Infinite and All-Present Divinity, without a child-like suspension of disbelief.

I have had amazing conversations with my son, as he has grown up. What strikes me the most is that he does not accept things as they are, the way a cynical adult would. He asks piercing questions, and he has the will to work for change.

When my son was a pre-schooler, he looked up at the sky and said, 'How many stars ARE there, anyway?' He would run to the window each night to look for the moon. He would urge me, "Mommy! Come look! It's the moon!" It was a miracle to him every single night.

When he was in grade school, he saw a news report about a padded room used in schools to isolate students who act out. He asked me, "Wait. Is that even legal?" When I said yes, he replied quietly, "When I am an adult, I am going to work to ban those rooms so no kid has to go in there."

When my son was thirteen, I realized that he had taken Health class and knew where babies came from. So I sat him down and told him what abortion was. He listened quietly and began to cry. I said, "You are old enough to begin to know what this world is capable of."  He said, "Do they really kill babies?"

When my son was in middle school, he saw video of some children in India, picking through garbage to salvage what they could for sale. He asked me, "Wait. Is that even real?" When I said yes, he replied quietly, "Then I am going to play my trombone in a concert and raise money, because those kids should not have to pick through garbage for a living, they should go to school."

When my son was in high school, he asked me about the death penalty. I explained that, as punishment for certain extreme crimes, the state can put the criminal to death. My son was angry. He said, "Only God can take your life away. The state has no right to do that."

How many of us adults simply accept Abortion. Or, desperately poor children. Or, the death penalty. .

How many of us accept racism, sexism, assault, war, violence, greed, abuse of power? We say, Well, that's just the way it is- the way of the world.

But through the eyes of a child, we ought to be asking, WHY do these things persist in our world? Because these are not Love! And how can we bring more Love into our world?

And we ought to be going out at night, looking up to the sky, and recognizing the moon and the stars for the miracles that they are, and dreaming of the possibilities in the same way that our children do.

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