I have always loved children and I have always loved it that children seem to take to me so naturally. I love the freshness and hope that they bring. Nothing is sweeter than a baby’s breath and nothing can be softer than a baby’s touch. I love children’s pristine innocence and their endless sense of wonder. I love to hear children’s laughter for I am affirmed that things do work out well in the end. And when they cry, it is not out of bitterness or regret or anger or disappointment. Their cries are often calls for attention or even an invitation to a relationship and intimacy or a cry for help and comfort. I am the link to may people in my life now to the past. The children in my life are my link to the future. Through me, they get a glimpse at the past. And through them, I get to see and be part of the future.
It often takes so little to make children happy. Adults, often driven by guilt for not doing enough for their children, would often spoil them with material things when all they want is time and presence. And as adults, we often realize it is not material things that make us truly happy but the presence of our children in our lives and the time we spend with them.
People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Mark 10:13-16