Seeing Through The Eyes of a Child

Hello My Dear Reader,

For a long time I have honestly not been compelled to write anything, nor have I been sure of what God wants me to write. It has been quite stressful and troubling for me. So outside of my regular work and family duties I have been devoting myself to reading rather than writing. However, just a few moments ago, I was reading a funny story about a young Jewish girl who went into a Catholic Church for the first time and it amazed me how she saw things that we, as Catholics take for granted, through her child’s eyes.

To sum up the story, her friends who had invited her thought they’d get into trouble for bringing her into their church and so they ran away and left her alone in the pew. Because she could not find them she decided to walk around and couldn’t help but wonder why the “water fountains” were broken (the holy water fonts)… She stepped into a confessional booth and wondered why there wasn’t a phone… And she wrote that the priest spoke “gobbledygook” (the priest was saying Mass in Latin)!

It really got me thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 18: 1-5…

“At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.'”

Matthew 18: 1-5

Part of the reason that it has been so long since I’ve written anything in my blog (other than being busy with work and life changes) is that I’ve been worried about the “technical” aspects of my faith and not wanting to write something that makes me sound stupid or like I don’t know what I’m talking about… I have often been somewhat inspired to write about subjects that I fear I am not capable of writing about because I’m not a theologian and, being friends with people who know much more than I, makes me worried that I will write the “wrong thing”… Maybe there is some inner pride involved as well… Lord knows that I do not like being wrong.

But Jesus’s words in Matthew 18: 1-5 struck home for me this evening. I want to see Him more as a child does… I want my faith to be as through the eyes of a child… There are a lot of things that make me think that I am still a child at heart! For example… As I sit here in my recliner writing this article for you, it is mid-September and I’m sitting in front of my fireplace with a fire listening to Christmas music! I feel very much like a kid and I have come to the realization that it is not so important that I be able to explain all the technical aspects of The Christian faith, but rather, it is most important for me to simply accept things as I know they are with regard to the teachings of The Church and spread the Gospel (as we’re all called to do) in a simple way much like a child would…

What is a crucifix to a child, but a symbol of love? What is a holy font to a child, but a fountain that contains life-giving water? To a child, what is the Eucharist but Jesus Christ himself? What is the altar but a table? What beauty there is in the colorful pictures of stained glass windows!

We must see things as children, as we’re called to see things, and not get so caught up in the technical explanations and understandings so that we might enter the kingdom of heaven on Christ’s terms.

So, with that being said, I make a pledge to you that I will no longer be so worried and self-centered in such a way as to prevent me from conveying what God lays on my heart to share with you… I love you with a love that God has given me to share with you. I ask for your prayers and the prayers of all the saints that I may not let pride get in the way again from sharing my heart and mind with you. I pray that I will see things more, not from an angle in which I should be able to explain the technicalities, but rather from the perspective of a child filled with faith…

I pray that we would all be able to see God working in our lives that way…

Your Humble Servant in Christ,

William