Returning to a Childlike Faith: Cultivating Trust, Wonder, and Play as Virtue and Worship
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2017-05-11
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Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? A child, Jesus says: For unless one turns and becomes like a child, she shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. He who humbles himself like a child shall be greatest in the Lord’s kingdom. These are the words of the Lord. Children are beloved by Christ and adored by today’s adult. Books like J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Lois Lowry’s The Giver and films like Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, classic pieces of artistic beauty in the genre of coming-of-age-fiction, possess a certain nostalgic appreciation, a reminiscent familiarity, for the celebrations and decimations of the adolescent protagonist’s story. Dr. Seuss and Shel Silvertsein remain timeless, with their characters and storylines anchored in the memories of those long- and far-removed from the age when their noses were buried in those outrageously illustrated pages. Adults dream of when time was abundant, responsibilities were fictitious, and money was nothing other than colored paper passed between finger-nail-chewed hands during “Monopoly Night.”
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Christian Theology, Joseph Deardruff, Worship, Play, Virtue, Spring Arbor University, childlike faith