We have all had our hearts gladdened recently in seeing pictures and videos of children. My favorite is of the little boy, probably just under two years old, playing with a dog. The puppy is checking him out, and the boy giggles at every sniff, every jump, every bark. The dog doesn’t know what to make of this average, yet wonderful child. The normal kid laughs about 400 times a day. Adults? Maybe fifteen. We are blessed when we are around the youngest of people, for they do invite us to see the world through their playful, inquisitive eyes. We are drawn into the realm of their imaginations, pretending to be superheroes. The coronavirus pandemic has gotten families to do things together, have fun together, learn together. Could this not be God’s positive expression in an otherwise depressing sitz im leben – situation in life? There is holy humor around us, even if we have to Facetime, Skype or Zoom to get it.

A four-year-old asks, on average, 435 questions a day. Always discovering in their wondering minds. The older we get, the more fearful we get. Afraid to ask for help, to admit that we don’t know how to do something, the answer to the questions. We teach the children new words. How often are those words love, grace, Jesus, faith? I am painfully aware that my inner circle of human connections does not include kids. There is Jake, age nine, whom I baptized. He is wise and wonderful beyond his years. Positive, loving, giving. We talk about those basics of Christian faith, love, and grace. But my nieces and nephews have all reached adulthood, when we are too often programmed to grow up, get a life, make decisions that too seldom have anything to do with fun and laughter. “Get serious about your future”, we implore them. Well, to be blunt, their future is cloudy. The stress we put on them to not only achieve but excel can be crushing. Thanks be to God, who only asks us to be faithful. We plant and water our plans and goals, but God gives the growth. Notice I didn’t say “success”. The original twelve disciples were average, nondescript. Their work, and ours, are accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our burdens, our baggage, are released when we come before God with a broken, repentant heart. We don’t have to try to do everything on our own. Kids understand that. Why do grown-ups forget? We lost our ability along the way to celebrate little victories, to laugh in wonderment in the moment of discovery.

One of my favorite expressions is “we don’t stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing.” We take our average selves way too seriously, beat ourselves up way too much. Just yesterday, I got so down on myself for something that in the final life analysis was pathetically insignificant. God gracefully helped me to laugh at myself. “Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding.” Thanks be to God – again and again! He takes our average inner child, answering our questions, laughing along with us at our wonderful humanity, promises that our imaginings of eternal life are so good they have to be true. He is our superhero, our Abba, the source of all life, and the one who loves us unconditionally. So play, average kids of God, play!

Pastor Art