Their faces read innocent.
Guileless eyes flash curious.
Shy smiles radiate a happy heart.
Even as poverty encloses them, they find joy in each day, playing with sticks, clasping a rag doll in their tiny hands, drawing in the dirt .
They don’t know that others have much more, they only know the life they were born into. They don’t know what a Lexis is or what glories a mall store window loads at Christmas, or for that matter, even what a tricycle is.
They don’t know the excess we thrive on, the closets full of shoes and clothing, the riches we squander. A middle class Rwandan makes $6000 a year. Fifty-one percent earn below the poverty level. (© WageIndicator 2016 – WageIndicator.org)
But their ignorance of the world allows these children to experience the bliss of simplicity instead of dissatisfaction and envy.
Trusting,
Innocent,
Uncorrupted by the lure of the world.
I picture them shyly gathered at his feet.
Mothers hovering, pushing them forward.
One bolder child holds his chubby hands up and bestows a toothless grin on Jesus as he lifts him onto his lap. They giggle as he makes a funny face. Kindness and gentleness radiate from his body and they soak it up with guileless trust.
They wear no doubt
No cynicism
No debating if he is the true way.
No hate or envy
No prideful ego
No worry about what the future holds.
So how do we the privileged become like little children?
They take one day at a time. They live in the present and don’t focus on regrets, what might have been or what could be lurking in the future.
His precious blood gives us back our innocence and our peace. He will ever view us with rose-colored glasses, veiled by his blood
So what if we embrace him with our whole soul and refuse to allow doubt to creak open the door?
No debating truth
No hate or envy or cynicism
No prideful ego that refuses to be humbled before God
No worry about what the future holds.
Take one day at a time. Relax the grip of worry.
So the real secret?
Let go
And
Lean in.
And believe with the newborn faith of a little child, he is the one who will never let you down.
*******************
Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.