A Season for the Spirit: The Wounded Child

I admit it! Just mention the inner child to me and you will see me roll my eyes in frustration. I am an adult and their are responsibilities in which to tend. Any discussion about someone's inner child is a crutch or a weak excuse to avoid the inevitible reality that life is difficult. I have learned throughout the years that the last thing I must do is become vulnerable. Why? Because there will always be people out there who will take advangage of the vulnerable.

Although I can never imagine myself adopting the language in social circles, Jesus DID tell his people that we all must become as little children. And then adds a stern warning that, as Smith reminds us, is never captured on stained glass windows or "children's corner" at church.

Jesus tells them that if they do not, it may become an obstacle if they wish to enter into the Kingdom of God.

OK, maybe I should consider this idea in my prayer life!

When you think about it...it makes sense. Children do not build the obstacles that adults do because, at least the innocent among them, desire relationships and trust. I was watching Nightline late last night and I was overjoyed to see N.T. Wright speaking of what he believed was an accurate Biblical image of heaven. He claims that the idea of heaven has been manipulated over the centuries as a response to the alternative....Hell. His studies have resulted in a conclusion that will bother most evangelical Christians; especially the evangelicals among us who base every ounce of energy on their own future arrival in heaven or leading others to this ambigious place we know little about.

Heaven, to Wright, is more like a holding place (a real place) but it is only temporary due the promise from Christ that he will make all things new again and create a new earth (that is like heaven.) This is what should motivate us to do good works, fight for justice, and work towards things like the freedom of children and modern day slaves. With this Biblical imagery, we now have a connection to the world around us because it is this world that will one day be made anew. All tears will one day be wiped away and the horrors that take place behind closed doors in our own neighborhoods involving children will one day cease to take place.

None of us can literally become like children again. None of us would want that. But we can allow Christ to bring to life the child that is within us. "Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

So if we were to catch a glimpse of this recreated new world, what would it look like? One image that comes to mind for me is one where all of us would not only identify each other in some way but also possess the heart of a child. It would be a place where equality is universally accepted, where relationships are pure and innocent, where everything is shared, and God is big (not so mysterious) and loving.

So what about all of us who have a 'wounded' child within us? We can let God heal the wounds that are there and realize that prayer is not always "serious adult business." We must allow ourselves to be embraced and in order for that to happen we must become vulnerable to God. We must become like children.

"Take away from me my fear of a child's vulnerability. Help me recognize that I am also a wounded child; otherwise I may bar myself from the kingdom."
Martin L. Smith