Several years ago, after my aunt’s funeral, we were in the forest where she was buried. We were ambling along the dirt road, and one of the little girls flew past me, her golden hair tickling the wind. She must have been about four years old dressed up in her Sunday best. “Where are you going so fast,” I asked. She looked back over her shoulder and grinned, “I am having a race!”
I looked back to see her competitors. The country road was empty except for her parents who were walking leisurely behind us. She seemed oblivious to the fact that a race implies competition. She was racing for the sake of racing. She was racing herself, and she was determined to win.
I smiled at her sweetness and longed for bygone days when life was so simple. Life has become so complicated with rules and expectations. We rush from one self-imposed appointment to the next. We smile when we do not feel like smiling and pick up the next burden and carry it to the treadmill where we spend the day. We jump off the treadmill to sleep a restless night, only to get up and start again. We give little thought to why we are doing what we are doing. We simply move like the tide rushing in and rushing out.
All around us, unnoticed, glorious sunrises and sunsets spread across the sky. Roses bloom and petals fall to the ground and are covered with autumn leaves and then glistening winter’s snow. Babies smile and grow into toddlers and teenagers. We blink as we rush past like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!” When we arrive, it is a Mad Hatter’s party where nothing makes sense.
It is little wonder that Jesus said a child was the greatest in the kingdom and chose such harsh words for those who offend them:
1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2. And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
6. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
—Matthew 18:1-6 KJV
Little children are free, spontaneous and naturally kind. They do not hold grudges but are quick to forgive and forget. Children notice and study things with intensity. My granddaughters notice a bug and suddenly the whole world is about that bug. They ooh and aah and call, “Grandma come and see! It has legs and some funny things on its head!” They study it until their curiosity is satisfied and move to something else.
They laugh and cry readily. Emotional honesty is their hallmark. They sleep when they are tired, even if it is in the middle of dinner leaning over the spaghetti dish. They do not get bothered if they get spaghetti all over the floor; they are concerned about discovery and newness.
When I was teaching first grade, a little guy came in from recess carrying a butterfly. He wanted me to make it better. I couldn’t get him on task because he was so concerned about the butterfly and he was drawing the entire class into his plight, so in desperation I said, “Take it to the nurse and see what she can do.” He did and returned shortly saying the nurse had pronounced the butterfly dead. I said, “Put the butterfly outside so we can get to work.” He said, “Don’t we need to have one of those things where everyone stands around and cries?” I saw his compassion, but I couldn’t spare the time, so I said, “Why don’t you do that at recess?” I didn’t attend the funeral, but I imagine there were several compassionate first graders who did.
My sister brought her grandchildren to visit my parents. Mom had about 70 laying hens. The kids wanted to gather the eggs, but they were terrified of the chickens. If you have ever seen chickens in a chicken run, you know they rush toward you every time you open the gate, expecting you to throw them some scraps or feed. The children thought the chickens were chasing them. Mother caught a few of the hens and let the children pet them. After that, they were not afraid anymore.
Every day at four o’clock, they would gather the eggs. The oldest granddaughter, Tayla, especially enjoyed the project. She patiently waited all day until four o’clock.
The day before they left for home, Tayla wanted to gather the eggs. She went to the coop and proudly gathered every single egg. When she took the eggs to the house, she saw her little brother. She knew how he loved to gather the eggs too. She went to her grandfather and whispered, “Grandpa, can’t we take some eggs back down to the pen and hide them so little brother can gather them?” They took the eggs back to the coop and left them where her brother could find them. Her only purpose was to allow him the same joy she had felt. That is the kind of child we must be like to be the greatest in the kingdom of God.
My grandson Isaac, who is two, came to visit. He was wandering outside and noticed the horse in the corral. He came running to his mother and said, “There is a real cowboy horse out there! It’s John Wayne’s real horse.” He loves John Wayne because he watches cowboy movies. That is his favorite thing to do. He couldn’t wait for Grandpa to help him ride the real cowboy horse. When he sat on the horse, he was as cool as John Wayne. He was not impressed with me taking his picture. In his mind, this was not a John Wayne thing. He had a hero and he wanted to be just like him.
Children are God’s greatest gift, “an heritage of the Lord,” as the Bible puts it (Psalms 127:3). They come into the world innocent and pure. The adults in the world are given charge to teach them to navigate the world. It is a shame that parents allow their children free access to the internet, thinking it will help them navigate the world. Little do they understand that children are great imitators. They follow where they are led. Parents like that are stealing a child’s future chance to see the world as a beautiful place. They are putting them on the low road. The high road is filled with beauty, kindness and charity. The low road is a place of contention, bitterness, revenge and violence.
Jessie Belle Rittenhouse penned a poem that sums up the gift parents can offer or steal from their children by what they teach them or allow them to navigate on the internet.
I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
Children are precious and impressionable. They will follow where they are led. Take time to teach them and help them to navigate the high road taught by the gospel of Jesus Christ, who loved little children and could see their potential. If we allow them to travel alone down the low road, we will suffer the consequences of Jesus’ stirring declaration:
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
—Matthew 18: 6
Yevet Crandell Tenney is a Christian columnist who loves American values and traditions. She writes about faith, family and freedom.
