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.
"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.
