What is childlike faith?

We must have childlike faith. Jesus tells us (Matt 18:3).

And in the Psalms, we hear “the Lord protects those of childlike faith” (Psalm 116:6-16).

So, this is something that is really important. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle to understand what it practically means. How do you become like a child? We can spend the whole day doing "things adults do": checking off to-lists, having plenty of responsibilities, planning, organizing etc. And funny thing hit me is that I don't remember God telling us to grow up. To grow in virtue, yes, but growing up? If that means being in control, being productive, having it all together - maybe that's what he wants to redirect us from. So. I have contemplated what it means to be a child, and what I can learn from them and I wantd to share it with you.

Dreams

It seems like the older we get, the more afraid we are to dream – because dreaming is risky. There is a risk of getting disappointed. But we are children of the greatest Dreamer of all times, God himself. He dreamed the world into existence, He dreamed of you and dreamed of having a relationship with you, of loving you – and so made His dream a reality. We are made in His likeness, and made to dream big, not to dream big on our own but to dream big with God. And it is important to dream as a fact of faith. Children know this, and they have the courage to dream big.

For a 5-year old everything is possible, and as naïve it may seem to us, they can have a greater understanding of truth than us. They truly believe that everything is possible, and that God can make anything happen. Truth is, they are right. Nothing is impossible for God. “Jesus looked at them and said: with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26).

Sometimes we have experienced so many disappointments in our lives that we don’t even know how to dream anymore. God showed me that a good way to start is to sit with the 5-year old me, the 6-year old me etc. and remember what she was dreaming about. We all had bigger dreams, because we starting to see limitations over possibilities. God reminded me not so long ago how I used to dream of becoming a journalist. However, I completely throw that into the trash only because I told myself that I did not have the courage that it takes. However, many years later God reminded me of that dream and I felt invited to look at it again - which made me create this little space, this little blog, where you are reading this post right now. While I am certainly not a journalist, God reminded me of my love for writing. I don’t think our childhood dreams are completely random or coincidental. Though, it might not mean that you will become a ballerina-astronaut-superstar, there might be treasures hidden in our pure childish dreams

If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire (Saint Catherine of Siena).

Being present

Whenever I babysit, it always fascinates me how children are just completely present in the current moment. It is something I am definitely not always good at, and with the whole mindfulness and coloring-book trend, I tell myself that I am not the only one who could learn to be more present. It really inspires me to just watch children who are often so capable of just being. If they are playing a game, there is nothing else that exists for them than this game. If they are playing hide and seek, that is the only thing that exists. There are no other people around them, no past or future - only what is in front of them, and this attitude is the attitude of a servant of God.

As to the past, let us entrust it to God’s mercy, the future to the Divine Providence. Our task is to live holy the present moment (Saint Gianna Molla).

Authenticity and honesty

Children are usually not very filtered, which I believe can often cause trouble for their parents. If the child is hungry, everyone needs to know. If the child is angry, they will not hesitate to show it. If the child cares about someone, they will not wait to express it. Adults on the other hand like to put things aside. Sometimes it may be good to mediate our feelings and thoughts for the good of the other, so we don’t just burst out in anger. But I think that often we overestimate our emotional maturity. We think we have won over anger by setting it aside, but what we really did was just to suppress it. If I have learned something from studying Psychology, it is that suppressing feelings will not make them disappear. Sometimes it can make it even worse. I myself have a really long way to go when it comes to learning to be completely honest and authentic, but I think it is important that we all acknowledge how crucial it is to learn this.

Authenticity and honesty opens up vulnerability, and it is vulnerability that relationships really become nourished and can reach new heights.

Authenticity and honesty opens up a space where God can transform us into saints. We do not become saints by trying to be saints, we become saints by standing completely naked in from of God and letting Him heal our hearts and move us towards holiness.

Someone once beautifully explained to me what the reason for this is. It is not because God forces us into brutal honesty, no, it is because He is Truth himself, and the further away we are from living in Truth, the further away we are from Him and His love. Truth and false can simply not be in unity. Therefore, He can only love the person that exists. He can only love the “you” you are now. No matter how far that is from who you want to be or how much you desire to present something else to Him. He cannot love the ones we want to be, simply because they do not exist.

Curiosity

Children are so curious about everything. It is so funny to see children entering a home they have never been to before. Sometimes they will not leave the house before having touched every. single. object in the house. They are so hungry to discover new things. For that reason, everything becomes an adventure for them. When did we lose this hunger? God has created a whole beautiful world for us, and we sometimes lack interest in even discovering it. I am only thinking about traveling the world, but even the simplest of things – looking up when we walk the streets and looking curiously for beauty on the buildings we see or trying out a new recipe in curious of tasting more of what God has gifted us with. Even more importantly we can learn to be curious about the person that is next to us, curious about how they are feeling, what their story is, how we can give them something – our time, our advice or just our presence. Last but certainly not least, we can learn to be curious like children about getting to know God better, like a little child in first grade having so many questions about who He is, who He is to us and what Heaven is like.

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me (Proverbs 8:17)

Trust

This is a big one I think. Children are often so care-free. What do they have, that we as adults do not have. Trust. I was imaging a situation of a child asking for a detailed plan for the annual summer trip. The child wants to know exactly where they are going to sleep, what they will eat, where and when exactly they will go, and also a 100 % guarantee that the trip is risk-free. Why is this a funny scenario, because usually this is not how it is. Usually, a child has a deep sense of trust towards the parents. The child does not desperately seek control yet. With age we rely more and more on ourselves, but truth is we are not in a different situation than the child that is going on holiday with their parents. We have a God who is even more in control than our parents were when we were children. He knows exactly what is going to happen, and He holds our future in His strong hand, just as it says in the book of Isaiah.

Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10)