Always be child-like

THIS is what Christ wants us to be always. “Let the

children come to me,” he said. “Do not prevent them, for the Kingdom

of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not

accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Mk

10,14-15)

  

            To be sure, it’s not a call to be childish, as in being

whimsy, capricious, thoughtless. Rather we are asked to be always

humble and simple, full of trust in the authorities and especially in

the providence of God, and eager to believe in what is good, precisely

like a child whose worries are few and not deep and lasting.

  

            We have to remember that Christ also said that even while

we have to be simple and innocent like doves, we should also be shrewd

and clever like serpents. (cfr Mt 10,16) We have to find ways of how

we can blend these two apparently contrasting qualities together.

  

            To be child-like is to have a lot of faith in God. It is

to be led more by that faith than by our merely human estimation of

things. It is to accept whatever happens in our life but always

confident that God never abandons us and is leading us to him through

the ups and downs of our life.

  

            To be child-like is to have a pure and innocent heart,

incapable of malice, ambition, pride and arrogance. It is to have the

confidence that even our defects and mistakes, if immediately referred

to God, do not really matter much.

  

            To be child-like is to be transparent, simple and sincere,

unafraid to be known as they really are, warts and all. The knowledge

and vast experience they gain in life do not alter their simplicity

which neither negates prudence and discretion.

  

            To be child-like is to be welcoming to suggestions and

corrections made on them. These do not make them feel humiliated, but

rather thankful. To be child-like is to be teachable, flexible and

docile. When one is child-like, he can be told anything and he tends

to believe and obey. Attainments, achievements and successes do not

spoil him. Neither do difficulties, temptations and failures crush

them and plunge them to sadness or bitterness.

  

            To be child-like is to be easy to be motivated and

consoled. It is to be optimistic despite problems and difficulties.

Falls and mistakes are easily forgotten. To be child-like is to be

disposed to see things as they are, whether they are self-evident

natural truths or highly mysterious supernatural realities. What is

not understood is simply accepted and believed, relying simply on the

recommendation of parents and elders.

   

            To be child-like is to capture the spirit of the

beatitudes, where being poor in spirit, being meek or in a state of

mourning, being pure of heart and being persecuted, insulted and the

like are no big problem. They are good occasions to go closer to God.

   

            We need to always reinforce this need of ours to be

child-like. That’s because we are easily carried away by today’s world

forces that pressure us to leave behind our being like a child and

become complicated to tackle the complicated issues and situations of

the times.

  

            That’s always a strong temptation to us, because as they

say, it would take a thief to catch a thief. But let us remember

always that to untangle the knots of our times, we need to be simple,

always going to God for any problem-solving. And that’s simply because

to be complicated to uncomplicate complicated things would just make

things worse, not so much for others as for oneself.

  

            To be child-like knows how to abandon oneself in the hands

of God irrespective of the sacrifices involved.!