Trusting like a child

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

I recently spent a week at my uncle’s lake house in South Carolina with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and their two young kids. Every afternoon after the kids had taken their naps, we’d head out on the pontoon boat, which had a large inner tube attached to the back. My 5-year-old niece Ellis loved nothing more than to be dragged and zig-zagged behind that boat at top speed. I’d watch her from the back of the boat, my sister’s arm firmly crossed over her back, giving the thumbs-up sign to tell her dad to drive “faster” and making a squiggly motion with her little hand for “more turns.”

“Asha, come ride with me,” would be her plea after she had worn her mother out. “O.K.,” I would reply, “but only if we don’t go too fast!”

I remember when I wasn’t afraid of going too fast. When I was her age, I spent hours on that same lake with my cousins, waiting for it to be my turn on the inner tube. I remember once when I was old enough to ride by myself, hitting a bump that caused me and the tube to be completely submerged for a good five seconds, only to catapult what felt like five feet out of the water. I thought that this was great fun. 

But some time between then and now, I learned to be afraid. The prospect of getting flung off into the lake (not to mention having very sore muscles the next day) began to overshadow the fun of a speedy ride. 

In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus is asked by the disciples, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:2-3)

What is it about children that Jesus wants us to emulate? He certainly knew that kids did not always act like perfect angels. (More than once, the threat of “no boat ride today” had to be made to inspire better behavior in my niece.)

Rather, he wants his disciples to trust and rely on God the Father the same way that children trust and rely on loving parents.

Children come into the world utterly dependent on others. If that dependence is abused, the consequences are devastating and lifelong. But when parents love and protect their children, that same vulnerability can produce great courage.

My niece wasn’t afraid to go fast on the tube because she still completely trusts her parents to care for her: If Dad is driving the boat and Mom is holding me down, what could go wrong? 

That’s exactly the kind of confidence Jesus wants his disciples to have, wants us to have, when it comes to following him and spreading the good news. 

When I got on the tube with Elle, she tried to calm my nerves, reassuring me that she was “brave enough for both of us.” And I’m glad she was, because I would have missed out on a lot of fun if I’d stayed on the boat. What might I be missing out on as a person of faith when I fail to completely trust in God’s mercy and protection?

• Facebook
• X
• Mail