Mom, look! There are more flowers on that tree over there! Mom, did you know that a bearded lizard poops only one time a year? Mom, I wish I could marry these chocolate chip cookies! I love them that much! Mom, look! I drew my sister a heart because she isn't feeling good. I love you, Mom, no matter what you do!
Every day is a new adventure when you spend it with children. Every thing is new to them. Every thing is exciting and every thing holds a little adventure. I haven't been in a Sunday school room that didn't have this bible verse posted somewhere: Let the children come to me! Jesus was the one who said this, and we always see the picture of him surrounded with children. Some are on his lap. Some are sitting on the ground looking up at him, and some are smiling at what Jesus is "telling" them. I have seen this verse and heard it many times, and the message of that verse seems so simple and obvious. Love your children. Love all children. And as true as that message is, I think there is much more depth to this command. The entire verse from Matthew reads: Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."
Obviously, Jesus felt that someone, or some situation, was preventing the children from spending time with Jesus. And it would seem that Jesus felt that children are especially blessed and heaven belongs to them, not through death, but now, while they are alive. He also seems to indicate that if we become like the children, we too can inherit the kingdom. So how do we become like children? What is stopping us from becoming like children? What is the difference between being child-like and child-ish? Perhaps spending time with children and observing them was what formed Jesus' trust in God and demonstrated how to love fully and completely. Jesus obviously saw the value in a child and the God-like qualities of children. Jesus knew children had something to teach adults about how to live.
In my everyday efforts as a mom, I often forget what a blessing it is to have children in our home, and what an open textbook in spirituality that they are. Children are excited about life! They wake up with an open-heart to having fun! They want to know what they are going to do that day, who they are going to see, and where they are going to go. They will strive to make everything fun, joyful, and happy because that is their true nature. If something isn't fun, they will make it fun! And they won't settle for less than fun! Adults forget what fun feels like and we forget to invent fun. In fact it is every adult's true nature, but as our age increases, our level of joy decreases. Children find joy in what we would deem as insignificant. But children know and believe that nothing is insignificant. As adults things become insignificant because we have allowed ourselves to get used to what we experience.
Children are completely trusting. A child automatically, and without question, trusts that the world is a safe and loving place. They believe that everything is done for their good and that God won't let them down. They live from an innate source of trust that they will be provided for. They live by asking and receiving. Children trust that people are naturally good. Children are born with a divine sense of trusting life. It is not God who teaches them to fear. It is humans that slowly whittle away their trust so that all that is left is fear.We've all seen a mom kiss a boo-boo. I've kissed foreheads, fingers, toes, ankles, and arms. It is easy to see that it isn't the actual kiss that makes the boo-boo all better. It is the belief and the trust in the power of the healer that heals the boo-boo. One kiss and its gone. A child trusts the power of a loving mother to heal the hurt. So it is with the woman who just wanted to touch the cloak of Jesus. She believed and trusted in the power of Jesus to heal, simply by touching his cloak. Jesus tells her, Your faith has healed you.
Children love unconditionally. Children believe that love is for everyone and that it is only fair that everyone should be loved equally. They love freely without question. I can tell my three year old daughter that we are going to see so -and -so, and her immediate response is I love her! She's my best friend! She will say this about everyone. A child feels that everyone should be friends and everyone should have friends. Children view people, not by their appearance, but in what they say and how they say it. They see right through color, size, shape, and all outward appearances. They intuitively feel the person first. Children go right to the heart of the person. My son will stop everything many times a day just to tell me he loves me. Sometimes he'll come over to me and I'll ask him what he wants, and his response will be: Nothing, I just love you, Mom. Think of how complicated we have made saying those three words. What if we all made a conscious effort to say those three simple words just two more times than what we normally do? Why do we often feel embarrassed by the three words that often have the power to change and heal a lifetime of hurt?
Children use the power of imagination everyday. Our imagination is how God thinks through us and creates through us. It is our natural connection to Divine Supply. I have many memories of playing teacher as a little girl. School would be let out for the summer and I would take my used workbooks and textbook give-aways and I would set up my own classroom and teach to my imaginary students. I did this for hours. And then there are the memories of watching my brother play "farmer". He would take his toy tractors outside and plow, plant and combine his "fields". There were days you had to force him to do something else. They say that if you have trouble discerning what to do with your life, you need to remember your childhood, and what you played and what your natural "loves" and "inclinations" were. They often hold the key to your vocation. Oftentimes, when we allow God to heal the wounds of our life, our natural passion for what to do with our lives will surface. When children use their imagination, it feels real to them. They get lost in what they are doing, and time doesn't exist. Only now exists for them and they feel the joy of their pretend play. Play is a child's "work". It isn't just play. They are expressing and creating who they are at their core and they completely throw their entire "self" into what they are doing. As adults, our work must become our "play". We must love what we do so much that we lose ourselves in the joy of our "work-creations" to the point that work is no longer "work" it is pure joy.
Children are honest. They are going to express themselves clearly. Out of the mouths of babes is often used to describe a child's ability to call it like they see it. Children will call you out every time. They have an uncanny ability to say what they mean and mean what they say. They can tell you exactly what it is they want and exactly what it is they see. There is no mistaking what their needs are or what it is that they are thinking, especially the very young. When they can start to speak sentences, look out! A whole lot of honesty will be comin' your way. You don't have to read a child's mind because they speak it. Adults become very careful about honesty and often create "levels" of honesty. As we get older, we get good at assuming what must be on someone's mind and even create their own "truth" for them. Children pray honestly and very forthrightly. They can tell God exactly what it is that they need and trust that God sees that need as equally important as anyone else's needs. They believe God isn't too busy to hear their needs, no matter how small they might be.
Children are extremely observant. There's a whole lot of money see, monkey do in our house. Not only do they imitate each other, they imitate me as they play. If I want to find out what kind of mother I've been today, all I have to do is watch Olivia play with her dolls. They soak up what they observe like a sponge. And then they try it on for size. Children observe the finer details of life. They don't just see a flower. They see the bee on the flower and they notice how many leaves are on its stem. They count the petals and see the nectar in the center of the flower. Children are constantly observing the adults around them. They hear what they are saying and see what they are doing. Imitating adults is a child's full-time job. It is how they learn to be adults. We can learn to be observant of God-like qualities, actions, and thinking. We can learn to observe and imitate people who are Godly and at one with the Creator. Observe what they do, how they think, and how they interact with people. We can learn to observe without judging other people. We can observe consequences, behaviors, and outcomes without placing judgment on the people at the heart of what we are observing. Part of what made Jesus so good at loving was his ability to observe what love is and what it isn't, and then putting genuine love into action. Jesus knew human beings. He studied them and observed what makes them tick. Jesus observed more than he talked, and when he did talk, people listened because they wanted to learn from his observations.
Not only do we need to pray to become more child-like in our everyday living. We need to bring the child within us to our Creator. There is a child in all of us that needs to feel loved, important, and valued. There is a child-like wound that, when healed, opens the door to the kingdom of the present. When Jesus said, "Let the children come to me." He meant for adults to bring their child-ish ways to him so that he might bring to light what feels dark. Adults, bring to me your child-ish ways...your blame, your shame, your judgment, your poverty, your doubt, your resentments and bitterness, your mental games, and your fear. Don't let anyone or anything stop you from bringing your childhood wounds to me so I can heal them and set your free...free to experience what the kingdom is. Free to love. Free to create. Free to imagine what a life of happiness, joy, and abundance might feel like. Free to be honest and to be who you were truly meant to be. Free to take our place where we belong in the kingdom of the present.
Practicing child-like living was what made Jesus who he was. He obeyed God like children obey their parents. He trusted God to provide like children trust their parents to provide. He loved everyone without condition like children love their parents without condition. He imagined a world that was peaceful, happy, and free of hurt and suffering and he worked for that. He gave his life for that. He had faith that God was bigger than any of the world's problems, despairs, or needs. He observed that love changes people, not hate. Not only did Jesus do this, he did it with a heart full of joy. He was happy with who he was and what he was about. He loved his "work", his mission. From childhood on, he knew what he would do and he loved it because he was true to himself. Even at a young age, he could be found in the temple. What he loved as a child, he did as an adult.
Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and sisters, love and learn from your children! It is true that our children are our future, and adults who become more child-like are building a future for these children. Churches who want to grow know this. Let the children come to our churches. May we never be the ones to stop them from entering our church doors. May our churches become more child-like in what they preach, do, and proclaim. May older generations not be afraid to hear the ideas of the young, for they are the inheritors of the "church". Let us think about our church traditions, beliefs, doctrines, ways of worshiping and interacting. Are they as attractive to the young and as valued by the young like Jesus was to the children that loved to be with him? The child-like won't stand for hypocrisy. Do our children love church? Do they want to walk through those doors and observe the ways of Jesus? Does their insight matter? Is what lies in their hearts valued? Do our child-like experience the kingdom behind our church doors? Are they encouraged to be child-like?
It is a tall order to be child-like. It is what the spiritual journey is all about. It is moving beyond our physical age and learning to retain our child-like qualities and discarding our child-ish behavior that is at the heart of our prayer life.
