July 1
Beloved families of Good Shepherd,
Peace be with you! I hope all of our families are having a good summer as we approach the fourth of July holiday weekend. This summer I’ve enjoyed starting my morning with a daily meditation from the book, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. I’ve noticed that my thoughts keep returning to one passage from the June 24th meditation from last week: “In the world, dependency is seen as immaturity. But in My kingdom, dependence on Me is a prime measure of maturity.”
In this Sunday’s appointed Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus invites us to learn from infants and their natural state of dependency in order to understand the kingdom of heaven more fully. Later, in this same Gospel, Jesus shows a small child to his disciples who are arguing over who is the greatest and says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18: 3-5)
Infants and children teach us how to remember and return to our childhood states of dependency, trust, and humility. In Faith Like a Child, author Lacy Finn Borgo writes that Jesus embraced himself as a child of his Abba and never left his childhood self, even as an adult. Borgo goes on to say, “if we learn, like Jesus, to re-member our childhood selves, we will find greater capacity to connect with God’s presence and his kingdom.”
Jesus, speaking from the heart of his childhood self, invites us to find rest and joy in the lightness of our childhood selves, too: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I hope the upcoming holiday weekend allows all of our families to enter into the rest, joy, and lightness of Jesus and childhood!
We hope to see you this Sunday!
Many Blessings,
Patty