Through the Eyes of a Child

 Readings 050926 

A child sees God long before they can explain Him.
Before the world teaches fear,
before pride teaches comparison,
a child simply knows:
“I belong to Someone who loves me.”

Saint Paul tells us,
“If you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above.”
A child does this naturally.
Their eyes lift easily.
Their hearts rise quickly.
They remember the One
who knew them
before they were formed
in their mother’s womb.

Jesus says,
“If the world hates you,
remember it hated me first.”
But a child does not worry about being hated.
A child trusts.
A child loves.
A child believes
that goodness is stronger than fear.
And in that trust,
they show us what it means
to belong to Christ
and not to the world.

But innocence does not last untouched.
There comes a moment—
  when a child discovers right and wrong.
And with that discovery
comes the ache of sin.
Sin is our betrayal,
our turning away
from the Christ who lives in us.
Even a child can feel that sorrow.

Yet even more,
a child understands forgiveness.
They run back quickly.
They rise quickly.
They believe in mercy
without hesitation.

My friend Renee sent me something
her little Lily wrote—
a whole Gospel poured out
in the simple honesty of a child:

“I was the Lord’s friend
but then I betrayed him.
And I regretted it immediately.
But then three days later
we arose again…
Then he was with the Father…
Then it was Easter…
Then there was the Bible.”

In one breath,
she told the story of all of us:
we fall,
we regret,
we rise with Christ,
and we return to the Father.

This is the faith Jesus invites us into—
a faith that remembers who we are,
a faith that seeks what is above,
a faith that trusts
that no matter how many times we fall,
He will raise us again.

Through the eyes of a child,
the whole mystery becomes clear:
We are God’s children.
We are forgiven.
We are His.

Prayer 

Lord Jesus,
teach my heart to see You
with the trust of a child.
Lift me when I fall,
hold me when I return,
and keep me always in Your love.

Amen