LIKE a child

    This is a special week in the life of the church in which I serve, as this is our Vacation Bible School (VBS) week.  All this week about 100 kids and almost half as many adults have been here each evening to celebrate life, learn about Jesus, and share in fun, snacks, and fellowship.  It is one of my favorite weeks of the year, because at VBS there is always great joy shared and received.

    I love seeing the expressions of joy on the faces of the children and love hearing them excitedly tell of God’s love, not just for others, but for THEM.  I love the songs that are sung and the stories that are told, the creativity of the staff, and the transformation of the church into a sacred space that looks very different than it normally does.  I love all of these things, but I think what I love most is to see how we adults respond and grow through the experience.
    It is amazing to catch a glimpse of Christ’s light twinkling in the eyes of the adults who help out. Part of their joy comes from the stirring of memories of their own VBS experiences as children, and part of it is experiencing the joy of the faith all over again.  It is awesome to see them singing and doing the motions with the music, then laughing and sharing what a blast they are having.  It is a blessing to see children holding their hands through the halls of the church, and I especially love to see the occasional adult male weighed down by a child or two climbing all over them.  Indeed, VBS is a blessing, not just for the children but for God’s adult children as well.

    Yesterday I led the devotion for our staff meeting, and I found myself drawn to Frederick Buechner’s book Whistling in the Dark, which gives brief snippets of commentary on specific topics.  As I leafed through the pages I came across a statement about “childhood,” and nestled in the center of these paragraphs was the concept that “There is a difference between being ‘childish’ and being ‘childlike,’ and that our invitation is to be like a child and not childish in how we live.”
    Buechner referenced Jesus calling the children to him and saying, “Those who would be like a child will be saved,” and he referred to Paul’s famous words in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians: “When I was a child, I spoke, reasoned, and acted like a child, but when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”  Both of these refer to the purity of childlike living, and that to be like a child is to trust, to see the world with joy and hope, and to share life with all around us.  I like that.
    I like this concept of the call to not be childISH but to live in childLIKE way.  To not hold onto the immature, self-focused aspects of childhood, but to open up to the seeds of life that God plants in us when we are born but which can easily be quelled as we ‘learn the ways of the world.’  I like this, because so often if we are observant, we see Christ alive through children...and those who boldly live like children of a loving and gracious God.

    I love VBS week, not only because of the children and what God does to and through them, but also because of what God does to and through God’s more seasoned children.  In the midst of a week of childlike living and growing, God always shows up, and when God shows up God brings life.
    But there is one thing I love even better than VBS week and all that it brings, and that is when the seeds that are planted during this special week take hold and sprout.  When the joy, hope, life, and love that is shared at VBS begins to be lived out at home, at work, and in the neighborhood.  When the Christ, or should I say ‘Christ-child,’ within each of us is revealed.  I love this especially because, not only does it change those around us and change the world, but it changes us.  It brings life to us.  It brings hope...resurrection...a kind of life which can only be described as “Childlike”...like the Child of God.


When was the last time you were bold enough to live a childlike life, unreserved and with reckless abandon?  If it’s been awhile, take some time to observe a child, learn from them, and act a bit more like them.

An Encounter with God...

    Last weekend my wife and I headed down to Durham, NC to celebrate my 20th College reunion.  As happens at such events, there was some assessing of life, sharing of stories, and reacquainting ourselves with one another, as we reminisced about our days together two decades ago and recounted how we are currently living out the gifts of life given by God.

    When I was in college, I was blessed to be a part of a wonderful social network of friends.  We did everything together and truly discovered life and joy in the midst of those four years.  I still keep up with them, and along the way we’ve shared even more joy and discoveries, while also experiencing the hard knocks of life.  God placed us together, and for that I am thankful.
    While we were together during those three days, we spent lots of time talking, but we also shared meals together.  As per the ancient understanding that God is present at mealtime, we experienced this truth.  Indeed, God was found in the midst of our conversations, in the ways in which we reconnected, and in the insights that emerged as we supped.  However, there was one particular meal in which we experienced an unexpected encounter with God.
    On Saturday morning we gathered in the lobby of the hotel and headed out to eat at a local shopping center.  After searching and finally settling on a nice little café with outdoor seating, we ordered our food and proceeded to bask in the sun and converse around a metal table canopied by a canvas umbrella.
    As we shared with one another, however, a small girl, who looked to be five but whom we found out later was eight years old, approached us.  She had been sitting with her family at a nearby table, but when she was done eating she came over to speak with us.

    Her name was Mary Katherine, and as she approached us we immediately recognized her characteristics as those of a Down’s Syndrome child.  From behind purple glasses she smiled at us, then one by one she made her way around the table extending her hand for a handshake while saying, “Hello.  My name is Mary Katherine.  What is your name?”  We replied, and she followed up by saying, “And what did you have for breakfast?”
    The innocence of her approach was wonderfully refreshing, but what really got us was the way in which she carried herself.  As opposed to the way the rest of the world usually interacts, her body language revealed openness and trust.  She invited engagement from others and exuded a genuine care.
    It was beautiful to see her come to each one of us, but when she came to me there was something more there.  I’m not sure why or what it was, but when she asked me the questions, instead of standing back and receiving information, she put her arm around one shoulder and began to stroke my forearm, all the time sharing who she was and inquiring about who I was.
    As is natural when one encroaches personal space, at first I felt a bit uncomfortable.  But quickly the image of my daughter flashed in my mind and a connection was made.  You see, Mary Katherine’s actions mirrored my own daughter’s interactions with me.  My daughter, who was 180 miles away and of whom I was thinking about and missing, will often place her arm around me or stroke my arms as she talks, thus amplifying the love we share.
    There, on the patio of a little café in Durham, I felt the presence of God and experienced the reminder of love.  Through the innocence of a child I was reminded that God loves me. I had revealed to me that God is found in the midst of the simplest interaction.  I remembered the power of touch, care, and simply asking simple questions.

    At one point in His ministry, Jesus was speaking and the children were trying to get to Him.  As they

did, the disciples tried to keep the children away, for it would not be appropriate for the little ones to interrupt the Master, and yet Jesus stopped them.  “Let the little children come to me.  To such as these belongs the Kingdom of heaven.”
    Indeed to such as these belongs the Kingdom of heaven, and as those who possess the gift of heaven, they have much to teach and remind us.

    Thank you Mary Katherine for blessing us in a sidewalk café through a chance encounter.  Thank you God for speaking through a child, thus realigning me with that which matters most.

    As you go through your day, look for God’s children, then open yourself to receive them and all God offers you through them.