I have a two-year-old daughter who loves magic. Perhaps magic is a bit of an
exaggeration. She loves my (not-so-subtle) attempts at withdrawing a coin out of thin air from behind her ear. Her eyes light up with wonder as she enjoys the perfectly executed trick.
When I try the same trick on my wife, her response (usually in the form of an eye roll) is not quite as enthusiastic. Her mature and educated mind knows that my sleight-of-hand is not nearly as impressive as my daughter seems to think.
I am glad that my daughter does not understand the ins and outs of the world, which will one day undoubtedly ruin the magic of this experience for her. Because of my daughter’s limited knowledge of the world, she can just enjoy the mystery right before
her.
How often do we presume to know so much about God and the world that we forget to marvel at the mysteries of God? As Jesus implied, the smartest seeming religious, with their
fancy language and complicated doctrines, are often the least loving and kind. They seem to have lost the core of Jesus’ call and teaching in their pursuit of knowledge.
The Franciscan
priest and author Richard Rohr says in The Naked Now, “We moved from wondering to answering, which has not served us well at all.”
Jesus makes it clear that a high IQ or a lofty position do not give us an inroad to God’s wisdom.
We can sometimes be so sure of our maturity and knowledge as Christians that we forget Jesus called his disciples to become like little children. Why children? They receive what is given and come with no preconceived ideas about God.
Perhaps God intentionally limits our understanding of Godself so that we can enjoy the mysteries we encounter without being bogged down by the specifics. Being so concerned with gaining “knowledge” and “perfect doctrine” can be a slight against what God truly desires for God’s
children.
How have we let our quest for intellectual knowledge about God and the world get in the way of encountering the mysteries of God?
How can we become more like little children as we encounter the mysteries and wisdom of God?
Reflections by Joe Taylor
