Softly as a Child

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. (Matthew 18:3)

What is that -- this becoming a little child?  Is it the child's sweet innocence? I, for one, was a bratty child. 

Is it their helplessness, their dependence? I can certainly envision that being what Christ is saying. 

I've often pondered that, and as I was reading The Ragmuffin Gospel last  night, I was really stuck by author Brennan Manning's take on the subject.

"It's important to remember the Jewish attitude toward children in first century Palestine...In the present day, we tend to idealize childhood as the happy age of innocence, insoulciance, and simple faith, but in the New Testament times the child was considered of no importance, meriting little attention or favor.  'Children in that scoiety had no status at all -- they did not count' [Albert Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity, p56]

...For the disciple of Jesus, 'becoming like a little child' means the willingness to accept oneself as being of little account and regarded as unimportant.  The little child who is the image of the kingdom is a symbol of those who have the lowest places in society, the poor and the oppressed, the beggars, prostitutes and tax collectors -- the people whom Jesus often called the little ones or the least.  'See that you never despise any of these little ones' (Matthew 18:10) ...."

Am willing to accept myself of being of little account for the sake of the kingdom? an unknown person, overlooked by the world? ouch.

Hope you enjoy it.
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Dang, I love this spring.  Think I'll go pull the fixie out.  It's a perfect day to ride to work.