To Simply Give

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not

hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs

to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

Earlier this month, my daughter Evelyn entered into a stage commonly known as the Terrible Twos.  I have seen some shifts in her personality that reflect this description, changes that can be attributed to her growing awareness of self and her ability to influence the world around her.  She is still the brilliant, humorous little girl I have always known, but she possesses now a powerful will that sometimes overwhelms her and honestly, at times, overwhelms me.  Despite her still immature and egocentric view of the universe, she never fails to teach me simple life lessons that we all sometimes forget.

I was sitting on the floor of the dining room in front of a low bookshelf, flipping through a Scandinavian cookbook I had picked up at Half Price Books trying to find some inspiration for tonight's Lenten fish dinner.  August, who will be one year old next month and is known around our house as Gus, was clinging to my arm watching with a bored sort of disinterest as I nodded approvingly at a recipe for creamy salmon soup.  A few minutes before, I had peeled an apple for Evelyn and she was quietly eating it underneath the dining room table, a place that has become a club house of sorts.

Gus' patience soon ran out and he wandered toward the living room, his sturdy legs pumping slowly in little kicks as he made his way to the door leading to the porch.  I could hear his  hands slowly slapping at the panes of glass.  The sun was shining brilliantly, but it was only a pretty mask on the face of a bitterly cold day.  

Suddenly, Evelyn crawled from her sanctuary and stood up.  She had a look of purpose on her face, and followed her little brother.  "Gus bite'a apple," she said and, without hesitation, presented to him the juicy white flesh riddled with tiny bites and teeth marks.  At this point, I was standing behind them both, careful not to interrupt the moment.

She held the apple steady as Gus turned around and took a step toward her.  With his mouth open wide, he sucked a little bit on the apple and tried to take a bite.  He tried several times until he was able to scrape a little into his mouth, and curled up his face at the tart flavor.

The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.  

Surely, this is a part of what Jesus meant when he said that we all should be like little children - that we should love innocently and without blinders, that we should give freely that which has been given to us.  Like a mother handing her child an apple, everything that we receive is a loving gift from God.  When we acknowledge this, we can lose that attachment to material things, that sense of possession and entitlement, and focus on the things that truly make life important:  Fostering intimate connections with the ones we love, brightening our neighbor's day, bringing a smile to the face of a stranger.  Taking care of one another, and sharing our joy.

Such a profound and simple lesson from among the youngest people.  Who better but the innocent to teach us innocence?