Second Childhood

Mark 10:15, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

As I continue reading Richard Rohr’s “Falling Upward” I was hit with him comparing the second half of life with a second childhood. And I thought to myself, “YES… THIS GUY GETS IT.” Again, Richard calls this opening of eyes to the kingdom of God as a “second half” of life. Not that is necessarily begins half way through life, as some never experience it. But it is the place where, as he describes it as learning becomes more about unlearning.

Jesus said, “However then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4). The kingdom of heaven is one and the same as the kingdom of God. And it is here right now. Therefore it is not about His kingdom coming as much as it is about our awareness of it.

The child takes the Father at face value. The child remains humble and knows that he does not know it all. The child is grateful for his Father’s forgiveness, and seeks his Father’s attention in spite of the occasional discipline. And the child always goes to the Father in a crisis. The child knows it all belongs to the Father.

There is so much about the child and the purity of heart one represents. The child is not pre-conditioned by systems. The rules of life are relatively simple. And so to is this entrance to the kingdom of God. Children see the kingdom. Children are able to practice His presence as I have often written about. But to be a child is in so many ways means to learn to unlearn.

Being a child means that we have to surrender what we know, what we’ve been taught, and who we have made ourselves to be to Christ and His lordship. Not merely in word, but in heart and deed.

Come be a child with me. Innocent, truthful, and without pretense or guile. Better yet, ask God to invite you into the freedom of childhood.