"Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Hagiography and the Bible contain too many stories of wise, prudent, bold, and clever personalities for anyone to suppose salvation belongs only to the childish, gullible or naive.
When Jesus blessed the children and reminded his disciples that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these, he was not advocating foolishness. In the Bible sinners and fools are often found together in an unhappy sentence. They're pretty much the same thing.
Rather, he urged his disciples to be as wise as children who let adults handle the challenges of the adult world. Faith-filled adults allow the Lord to handle those challenges beyond the scope of human intervention. Things like the problem of evil, and why bad things happen to good people.
A green friend of mine worried lately about the plight of the whales. Now there's not a whale within five hundred miles of Mount Saint Francis, except perhaps those pampered, protected animals in zoos. He likes to worry about such things, although he has too many worries on his plate already.
The entertainment media loves to worry us with distressing stories about things for which we have no responsibility. If you listen to NPR you know what I mean, but I suppose Fox is just as bad.
From our earliest days in the Sinai peninsula, after God led us out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, the Lord has assured us, "I will be with you." Our providential God guarantees our security, wisdom, confidence, and flourishing so long as we trust in him.
Can we handle them? No.
Can God? Yes!
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.