Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Cologne Notre Dame Cathedral

Lectionary: 391

"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.

How does one become childlike? Or, as Nicodemus put it, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?"

Old people sometimes become childlike, but that's not what anyone hopes for, or would wish on their elderly friends and family. 

Some of the greatest scholars and scientists, having contributed brilliantly to their fields, become hostile to new ideas as they age. They hate to be upstaged by younger people who build on, and go further with, their good insights. But every new idea gets old, becomes brittle, and loses some of its luster. 

And we can all act childishly sometimes, when we're disappointed or out of sorts and nothing is going right. That's certainly not the plan. 

Becoming childlike, I think, is learning to set aside the initial reaction of skepticism, and repressing the urge to ironic or sarcastic wit. It's a willingness to wait and see, and let understanding come, if and when it does. 

Pascal, in his Pensees, observed that when someone is wrong about something, they are right from their own perspective. It never hurts to find out what that perspective is before pointing out how wrong their idea might be. There might be something valuable there; and it might not deserve your clever sarcasm. In fact, sarcasm -- which etymologically means cutting flesh -- may be entirely wrong. That is, your wit is worse, and causes more harm, than the bad idea.  

And then, having seen their perspective and how it makes sense to them, if it's still necessary, we might point out the wrongness of the bad idea. If your interlocutor feels respected, they might not mind having a pet idea dismissed. Adults cultivate a curiosity which doesn't respond with irony or skepticism. 

A painting representing
the Holy Trinity
in Cologne Cathedral
France

Children often like new things, places, and ideas; but they don't pretend to know much. Childlike adults also know they don't know very much. They only know what they know, but they also know there is more to learn in every field of knowledge. Efren (aka, the magician) Reyes is one of the best pool players on earth. He says he likes to learn from young players; they're often trying out new strategies and techniques that he could use. 

In the Spirit of Jesus we are reborn and become childlike. We are open to new learning, but wise enough to honor others who believe in nonsense.