Thought for Today
Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Genesis 3:17 And to the man he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
1 Corinthians 10:7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play."
1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
Thursday was a beautiful day here. Friday was also. I worked at my computer both days. Today is gray, chilly, damp and humid. In one of my favorite movies, Jeremiah Johnson, the mountainman Bear Claw Chris Lapp tells Robert Redford’s Jeremiah Johnson, “Winter’s a long time going.” Tewksbury is not in the Rocky Mountains, but even at 100 feet above sea level, this far north, winter is a long time going.
This morning, my inner child is screaming at me to go outside and play. Despite the chill, despite the dampness, that inner child is angry that I ‘wasted’ 2 days of beautiful springlike weather.
Do you remember when there were only 2 seasons each year, school and vacation? The school year when I was young lasted 24 months each year. Vacation lasted about 2 weeks. That interminably long school year consisted of spending each day inside a classroom learning a bunch of grownup stuff. Obviously, since it was so much fun to do so, God meant for all of us to play catch, chase butterflies and run as fast as we could. Life was meant to be lived outdoors doing fun stuff!
At what point in my life . . . in your life did a drudge like Paul seem to begin to make sense? When did we put an end to childish ways? This morning, as I discipline myself to sit here and write, I wish I could have a discussion with Paul about the difference between childish and childlike.
Jesus said, "Matthew 18:3 Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Childlike is defined as “resembling, suggesting, or appropriate to a child or childhood especially : marked by innocence, trust, and ingenuousness.” (www.merriam-webster.com) Jesus also understood being childlike to include humility. I believe Jesus also included implicitly the characteristic of absolute trust.
When “I thought like a child,” when “I reasoned like a child” I only thought about laughing and playing. I could not see the need, the necessity of learning all that ‘adult’ stuff about mathematics, science, history and language. Life was meant to be lived outdoors doing fun stuff! Regrettably, even today, I sometimes think like a child and reason like a child. This morning, that child is screaming to go outside and play.
The adult me this morning is remembering all of the things which need to be done before I go outside to play. The adult me understands God’s words to Adam about toil. The adult me understands what Paul meant about putting an end to childish ways.
Just as it is important to put an end to childish ways, however, it is important not to put an end to being childlike. Whenever I think about God, about Creation and about the kingdom of heaven, I am struck by the magnitude of it all, by the sheer wonder of it all. Creation is immense. Creation is unimaginably varied. I cannot truly comprehend the Creator of Creation. Words like omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent are merely verbal representations of ideas beyond my limited comprehension. The same is true for eternity and eternal.
Tomorrow is the Third Sunday of Easter. Our faith tradition labels each succeeding Sunday as following Easter until Pentecost Sunday. I love that reminder that we remain in the awestruck magnitude of that Empty Tomb. We can only approach our Creator God in childlike innocence and trust at the realization of the meaning of the Empty Tomb. And we can trust in the truth of Paul’s words, “Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—”
Stay safe, remain childlike, trust God,
Pastor Ray