My good friend Mark Horne posted this short quote on the inescapable faith of infants:
Noelle Maria Donathan, born March 9, 2011 (Ash Wednesdsay), baptized March 27, 2011. To such as you belong the Kingdom of God. When Jesus told us we must become like children to inherit the Kingdom, I think I understand a little better what He meant. When I look at you, it’s plain that you are helpless. You cannot do anything but trust. You trust me and you trust your father, completely. You can’t do anything else. You simply must trust that whoever is holding you is not going to drop you or do anything harmful to you. It’s the essence of babies to trust. They are utterly helpless and depend upon adults for literally everything. That posture of reliance is what constitutes faith. You trust your father and me. And generally, you trust all adults, as evidenced by the general calm with which you tolerate being held by strangers.
Babies can’t do anything but trust others. So it should be obvious that you can’t do anything but trust Jesus, too. You are not old enough yet to know what independence is, nor to exercise it with respect to Jesus. You must trust Jesus. You can’t do otherwise.
That, I’m convinced, is the reason Jesus tells us we must imitate little children. Your faith is unquestioning and implicit. It is guileless.
read the rest: Noelle Maria Donathan: “To such belongs the kingdom of God.” « The Hinterlands.
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