A Season of Wonder

A year ago we had an unexpected snow shower. All day I had waited, watching the sky and the weather reports, hoping we’d get an early Christmas gift. And that night when the big fat flakes kept falling and falling, I ran around outside like a child. I grinned and giggled for hours. But my delight in nature doesn’t stop with remarkable winter weather events. In fact, sunsets and rainbows still captivate me. Butterflies, birds, and flowers all charm me. I’m also a real sucker for Christmas lights, and the more, the better. To a casual observer, it may seem as though I’ve never grown up. Maybe I haven’t. For to me, an integral part of faith is responding to God’s creation, His majesty, and ultimately His sacrificial love, with the awe and wonder of a child. 

The 18^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel records an incident that reveals how Jesus feels about adults having childlike qualities. “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’” (verses 1-5) Jesus said those who wish to live with Him must retain the purity of heart, openness of mind, and simplicity of faith epitomized by children. Perhaps that’s why so many Christmas songs—“Away in a Manger,” “What Child Is This?”, “Silent Night”—all focus on the baby Jesus who, though in all ways God, chose to come to us and show us how to live and how to love. With childlike faith.