School's Out For Summer

The Curate writes...

 

Summertime, and the living is easy. Warm days, light nights, the kids are off school and the sound of their playing drifts through the streets – although, as the late Terry Pratchett once wrote,

“It was nice to hear the voices of little children at play, provided you took care to be far enough away not to hear what they were actually saying.”

Which raises an interesting question. How often do we listen to what kids are actually saying? I know from experience with my little tribe that most of the time it’s not hard to hear them – as amazing as my kids are, there are times when I feel we could stand them on Roker seafront and use them in place of the foghorns - but there’s a difference between hearing and listening.

The old adage of children being “seen and not heard” is no longer seen as the ideal way of relating to the younger generation. But actually a look through the Bible shows us this was probably never the best way of helping young bairns grow into the men & women they were created to be. Jesus Himself reminded us, his disciples, of the importance of letting children come to Him, and many other passages of scripture show God regards children as worthy of His calling, commissions, healing, blessing, life and salvation.

 

Jesus also reminded us that we can learn much from children.

 

"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

When He said this He wasn’t encouraging naivety. Children aren’t held back by the cynicism that pervades our ‘grown-up’ world. Children ask the questions adults don’t dare, children throw themselves into things wholeheartedly and, in the right climate, find joy and excitement in the simplest of things. And it is worth remembering we are all God’s children. We are told to call God ‘Father,’ to come to Him with all our concerns and fears like a child to a trusted parent, to be challenged and inspired to grow into who He created us to be and ultimately rest in His love.

 

So this summer and beyond, hold on to the idea that the children you encounter are fellow pilgrims on the way to eternal life, with as much to teach as to learn. Pray for them, pray with them. After all, the only thing worse than the sound of children in church…is the sound of no children in church.