Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: The Kingdom of God (03/12/09)
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TITLE: FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM.... | Previous Challenge Entry
By Glenda Lagerstedt
03/19/09 -
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Much of the snail mail on any given day will predictably range from the cable bill, to no-end of credit card invitations and to amazing offers for miracles-in-a-bottle. We accept all with sigh or frown, or we simply use the shredder. (It doesn‘t help to shred the cable bill.)
But how the heart lifts at the sight of a familiar post mark bearing mail from beloved family. Anticipation and smiles replace those frowns and sighs.
Oh but wait…what if that envelope turns up empty? Uh-oh, disappointment in the making? My friend received just such a piece in her mail. It seems that her two year old granddaughter Rebekah had sent ‘Amah’ a ‘secret’ in a blank envelope. Whatever that secret was remains between Amah and Rebekah. Suffice to say that the innocence and openness of the precious communication has blessed the fortunate grandparents way beyond the scope of any written word.
We all have warm memories and stories of children’s behaviors. Volumes have been written about children. Within hearts and minds many volumes still wait to be written. God bless the little ones.
Jaime is our two and a half year old granddaughter. She possesses the sweet spirit and heart of the caregiver. A favorite pastime during grand-paternal visits is to sit on the lap of a willing participant and watch funny animal or baby videos on the computer. Grampa’s back, however, is almost as old as he is and sometimes just won’t “stand up to the long-term sit.”
On one such occasion he explained to her that his back was hurting him and that he needed to take a break. Jaime studied him soberly for a moment and then , “Turn around, Grampa,” she instructed. He complied (we most always comply) and was rewarded with a gentle hug. “I hug you back for you, Grampa,” she said. “Feel better, okay”? Then she turned her tiny self to other pursuits.
The freshness and trust of the children was certainly not lost on Jesus. He said in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them; for it is to those who are child-like that the Kingdom of the Heavens belongs.” *
Charles Dickens puts it well regarding children. He writes: “They are idols of hearts and households; they are angels of God in disguise; His sunlight still lingers in their tresses, His glory still gleams in their eyes; those truants from home and heaven they have made me more manly and mild; and I know how Jesus could liken the Kingdom of God to a child.”
Too often as we journey through childhood and move into adulthood we become weary and disillusioned, marked by stern unyielding dogma and the failure of the people we ourselves trusted in to live up to their calling in life. We rebel against it all.
May God give us the Grace to truly drop our unruly burdens and become as children, thus to enter the Kingdom. He clearly invites us to do so.
*Weymouth New Testament version
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