“I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself.” – C.S. Lewis

Like the little children.

Some people scoff at the thought of children.

I used to be one of those people…most especially as a child.

I distinctively remember looking around while playing with my fellow peers, thinking, “Wow, these people are idiots.”

I no longer think that way about children. God has rightly changed my heart in this matter.

Instead? I see people who are uniquely themselves and aren’t a wink ashamed about it.

I think that’s why Jesus asks us to be like the little children. We’re not to walk around with our adult masks on, always pretending to be something we’re not.

It’s an exhausting act, and everywhere you look, you can see that exhaustion in the Lord’s “big kids.”

But the ones that are small but mighty in heart? They’re nothing but themselves, an offering they give to God and the world.

This was unfathomable to me at one point, but nothing is impossible with God. So I asked Him to give me eyes that see and ears that hear like those who He loves who never feel the urge to stay hidden.

A prayer, I think, that benefits us all.

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Responses

  1. annestantonhere Avatar
    annestantonhere

    I started out thinking babies were rather mice-like. Mice clung to their mother’s teats in all their naked pinkness, sucking, sucking, (more sucking), sleeping, and squirming. It startled me as a teen. It all seemed a one-sided interaction that drained one and nourished the others. (I had two mice. They had more mice. We had to separate them, eventually, with a cardboard barrier, which one chewed through and then killed the other.) Mice symbolized all that was wrong in the world to me at that time. I liked birds, dogs, and cats more–even my chameleon sat on my flesh better.

    A few years later a buzz prevailed in the culture (a spiritual precursor, more than likely, to prepare ‘the learned’ for Roe v. Wade). Paul Ehrlich had published his theory (what we know, now, as erroneous, since the exact opposite is taking place in every nation) in a book that summarized how a population explosion would take down mankind. It was titled, The Population Bomb. He died this month, and never recanted. He embraced his wrong view all the way to the grave. That, to me, is a primary example of how the sin of pride is based in a lie and, unless one turns to Jesus, it never lets go of its victim. And, his point was anti-child.

    The year after that book was published (never read it, never knew of him) was the year the mouse thought entered my mind. Evil can carry his message to those not in Christ, without books. I decided I never wanted to become pregnant. That mentality was anchored in selfishness.

    Six years later, single, at the end of myself and my long search for fulfillment in the New Age, and ‘one special’ relationship, which started in college, I sat alone on a hilltop in Vancouver, BC, keenly aware of the fact I’d failed to appease the ache in my soul. There, I selfishly entertained the thought of having a baby. I thought a baby might be able to fill that empty spot within me.

    I’m so thankful to God that He did not allow that to happen–for the child’s sake, and all the tangents of entanglement that stem from such a selfish union. Three months later Jesus orchestrated a meeting. He connected me to a young woman, who was on fire for Him, and in those awkward, initial days of living in the same building with her, Jesus revealed Himself to me in His Word and by the testimony of her love for Him. Without me knowing how, He filled the void in my soul, and the ache was healed–in Him. “By His stripes we are healed.”

    In subsequent months, I came to see children as the most beautiful part of humanity–ones who teach adults the truest meaning of love, forgiveness, mercy, patience, and most any virtue Christ moves us into claiming as true, as we mature in His likeness. God strips us from our selfishness, when we truly see children for who they are. Not a threat. Not a nuisance. Not a burden to be cast off; but a totally blessing!

    In other word, Ericka, I so agree with you. My spirit says, Amen! ❤

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Ericka Avatar
      Ericka

      I always appreciate your insights, Anne. Thank you for sharing this. So beautifully put, friend.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. annestantonhere Avatar
        annestantonhere

        Tell me, if I’m too long-winded with my comments. Okay? 🙂 We sail under the same trade wind, which makes it so easy to join in with you.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Ericka Avatar
        Ericka

        Nope – love your feeback!

        Like

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