Believe like a Child
Believe like a child.
When I was a child I believed in many things. I believed that a stick could be a sword. I believed that a cardboard box could be a car. I believed Santa Claus would bring me presents. I believed I could fly (I did in my dreams – so why not when I was awake). I believed my father would catch me when I jumped off the edge of the pool. I believed that my parents loved me. I believed that the world was good.
And then I grew up.
I learned not everything was as I had believed. Sticks made poor weapons, cardboard boxes would not move, Santa Claus’s real name was Mom and Dad, and I flew like a rock when I jumped off the roof.
We live in a world that has challenged many of our childhood beliefs and have contributed to how we see and understand the world. The current political environment. Terrorism. Racism. Divorce. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Poverty. Disappointment in what we believed our life was going to be “when we grew up.” These are some of the realities we live with. These can shape the way we view life. But these are not the only realities. If this is all we see, we are looking at an incomplete picture which distorts our perspective of reality.
There is the magnificence of a sunrise. The splendor of a meal with good friends. The miracle of birth. The hug of a child around your neck. The laughter at the dinner table with family. The holiness of a wedding ceremony. The deep connection with another human being. The delight of a child discovering the world. The love between a man and a woman. The amazing love of God.
God’s love is the greatest reality of all. The depths that we can plumb for the rest of our lives and never find the bottom. God who loves us. In every way. Who loved us to death. His.
Believe like a child.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4