THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

219 – Friday, August 07, 2009

Innocence is such a great thing to observe in the life of a child. It is no wonder that we are admonished in the Scriptures: Matthew 18:2-4 (King James Version) ²And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, ³And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. My grandson constantly reminds me of this verse as I observe him – his eyes are often wide when his Poppie is talking to him – he loves to bring a book to me, turn his miniature frame and back into my lap where he extends his arms upwardly indicating he wants me to pick him up and read to him. He hangs on every word with his tiny fingers tracing the shapes and pictures elucidated within. He looks up at me with a huge smile beaming from his petal-soft face and there is never a doubt in his gaze that suggests anything other than total and complete acceptance – but it does not end there, that is only the beginning!! He is down in a minute and his mind is racing from shapes to colors to sounds and every other stimulus in his miniature universe – prodding, folding, inspecting, dissecting, turning, twisting, tossing, twirling, tasting, picking up a sphere and rotating his hands about its surface as he says the word, “Baaahh” and returning again to look at me with his quizzical “uhh” to find answers to his queries. When Poppie holds the orb and says the word “Ball”, the whole image becomes much clearer and a smile of peace and comfort wash over his precious face. If we could but lower ourselves to such a level of acceptance with our own existence, admit to ourselves that we long for answers we do not have, but know who does hold them – if we could feel as safe and secure in the presence of our Heavenly Father as my grandson feels with his Poppie, I know there would be more peace within us and that our security would be so assured that we could rejoice in all that we know and feel reassured in all that we do not! Trust is a pretty amazing thing!! Humility is the catalyst! Greatness is simple – chose to become less – just like a little child!! When I was in my youth, my mother used to admonish me to “Grow up!” I am pretty sure she would be the first to join with me today in my challenge to us all to be ‘converted’ and return to an inquisitive smallness!!!

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