Amy Oden
Church of the Resurrection Insights Blog
“. . . turn your lives around and become like this little child” (Matthew 18:3)
I notice as I grow older, I’m more and more drawn to “become like this little child” (Matthew 18:3). The longer I live, the more I become aware of all that I don’t know. The judgments and views I had about the world when I was younger no longer hold sway. Previous certainties give way to a simpler way of being that is open and attentive. To become like a little child and wonder at the world in front of me, I no longer need to analyze, figure out or explain it all. More and more, I long for this.
But, Jesus says, to live here requires “turning my life around” (v. 3). Jesus calls me to turn away from a life founded on knowing stuff–which I’ve spent most of my adult life in the academic world doing!–toward a life that can rest in not knowing. Turn away from thinking I can make sense of the world and turn toward a greater wonder at the Mystery. Turn away from striving to be a good person and turn toward trusting my belovedness in God.
When I can live here, in simple being, I’m open and receptive to whatever God shows me, rather than grasping and striving to manage or fix.
What does it look like for you to receive Jesus’ invitation “to become like a little child?” Your way will likely look very different from mine. Maybe for you it means to become more playful and take yourself less seriously, or maybe it looks like recovering some of the joys you loved as a child or seeking greater simplicity.
Somehow, Jesus says in his upside-down way, this is the path to the kin-dom of heaven. Give me the grace to follow.