They are everywhere. They are found on every continent in
every culture. Without them the human race would be doomed to extinction in a
few short decades. They fill the air
with laughter, like the sound of water gurgling in a happy brook. Their capacity
for imagination and happiness is almost boundless. They find treasure in the common things in
common places. They are the children.
Children rip away the paper from brightly wrapped presents,
discard the expensive gift and spend hours playing with the box. At the
playground, they make friends of complete strangers. In a matter of minutes they are playmates
making up imaginary games. They are as happy and excited to kick a
half-deflated soccer ball in a back alley as any player in a World Cup stadium.
They see the world with wide-eyed wonder, and they are blind to color, race or
social standing.
We are born reflecting the eternal light that enlightens
every man. (John 1:9). But, somewhere
along the way, the light dims. The carefree joy of childhood is lost.
Too often, and too soon the children will learn the lessons
of prejudice, self centeredness and competition. They learn it from watching
the grown ups around them. They learn it from pressure to perform in sports on
the field, pressures to live up to the expectation of adults who too often
measure life by fame, fortune and winning at all costs.
Jesus treasured the innocence of childhood. He once took a child and stood her in the
midst of his grown-up disciples who were arguing among themselves about which
one of them was the greatest. Holding
the child in his gentle hands, he said to them, “Truly I tell
you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2).
We all were children once, full of hopes and dreams with
boundless imagination. We are prone to
lose the magic, exchanging laughter for worry, innocence for anger, expectation
for resentment. But somewhere, down deep
inside, is the child we once were.
I have known adults living into their eighties whose eyes
still twinkle with the joy of a child, whose faces are wrinkled with lines of
laughter, who seem to wake up each morning with a child-like excitement for the
next day’s adventure. We need not surrender to the bitterness of
disappointment. The wisdom of experience
can serve as seasoning for the joy of childhood.
Regardless of our circumstances; in spite of our
difficulties, set-backs and disappointments; Jesus invites us to enter the
Kingdom as a little child, to be filled with a faith that expects to be surprised
by glory.
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