Following the Child

“A little child shall lead them” says the prophet Isaiah, in a metaphor for the peaceable reign of God.

For a week I have followed a child, a grandchild of mine, almost 8, here on a visit. I pondered as I was trying to keep pace with him about what peace would look like if a child were to lead us there:

• it would be energetic! with the beginning of every day, the child would open with the question, “What are we going to do today?” and then run, tumble, jump or somersault into the activity with eagerness. Bruce Epperly, also a Patheos blogger, in his book, Tending the Holy, recounts his own spiritual practice of rising at dawn to ask, “What great things will happen in my life today?”  (p.8) Peace comes from following the child or adult who loves Life enough to trust that the God of Peace is always doing a new thing, and inviting me to be part of it.
• it would be intelligent! The child arrived at our house with a musing: “I think I have a theory about how the moon was made,” he said. And to that end he led the search for data and research–a visit to the planetarium, a conversation with an astronomer, a book fro the library, all became part of the thinking that he did about what made a moon. Would that those leader of Church and state be willing to use the same kind of intelligence and inquiry and tenaciousness to find the things that make for peace!
• it would be imaginative!  With each artifact or new site we explored, the child brought the what-if-questions: what if I jumped all the way over to the Hollywood sign? what if all the hummingbirds wanted the same flower at the same time? what if an asteroid landed on the front lawn while we were in the house? …and the noticings- that plant is really a squiggly line, not a circle; the tar in the pits is really sticky and stinky; the tram stays on the track even when there is only one wheel touching the side: how does that work? (These questions and noticings may not be verbatim; I wasn’t taking notes, just listening!) John Lennon asked us many years ago to imagine the peaceable realm;  the child can take us there by shaking loose my imagination.
• it would be loving! No day went by without action, words, gestures of love and compassion, giving and receiving. A little nine- pound dog was lost in the neighborhood; a little cousin could not quite keep up with the big ones; a grandfather was weary after a long day of work: all of these were objects for love and gentleness and care. Love is the engine for bringing peace to our places or work and play, to our world and its varied parts, and the child led the way.

Energy, intelligence, imagination and love…the things that make for peace! And a little child led me! I hope I have learned the paths of peace and can be the Child of God I am created to be.