Gifts from Children

     Through the months of June up until now, many gifts have been tossed my way by children.  Shall I heed their lessons in my life or let them pass me by as “merely childish stuff?”  Here are just a few:

• ·         If I sit long enough with a spider web while the sun is bright, I can see sparkles.  It is magical.
• ·         A baby discovered his smile and the laughter that sprang from his depths.  As he continued to exercise this discovery, I too began to laugh.  I could no longer focus on anything other than pure joy.  My capacity for love grew.  Perhaps laughter is a gift to cultivate more of – and every day.
• ·         A really good story never grows old.  No matter how many new books a child receives, the old tattered ones are still the go to books.  How about that story of the Good Shepherd?  It never grows old and there is always something new there.
• ·         Playing in the sand and dirt can be exhilarating – the dirtier you get the better!  I forget this sometimes.  Every now and then a good dirty day in the garden does more for me than most anything.  Somehow I feel closer to the creator on a day like this…
• ·         It can hurt deep inside to see a bird that has fallen from a tree and has died.  One should not just walk by but stay there in silence and wonder.  We are connected with the living world – we must honor and respect it.
• ·         Over and over I see how the gift of the imagination can carry us deeper into truths that sustain us.  I do wonder why so many adults shut the door on this gift.

     Thank God for the young children in our midst at Christ Church Cathedral.  As adults live together with children, we can learn how to wonder, live in the present, see beauty, and take time.  Have you ever really thought that children could be spiritual guides for adults?  I know that they are – my life is surrounded by them and this is where profound growth has been gifted to me.

     Children also need adults as spiritual guides.  We provide safe space and a language in which to make meaning.  Jerome Berryman, the founder of Godly Play says that as Christians, we are always learning Christian as a second language.  Children and adults do this together.

     The cathedral is gearing up for a new year.  Rooms are being prepared, teachers are planning, back packs will be blessed this Sunday, forum classes are being formed.  We are all in this together.  This year, make it a point to listen to the children in our midst.  Yes, they are cute but they are way more than cute.  If you listen deeply, you will learn.  You will be blessed.