PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT
Just a children's song remembered from a Sunday School class long ago: "Red and yellow, black and white; they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world." But it expresses a profound truth...one that might change the world if we took it seriously. Sort of like the lesson in the poem a friend sent me yesterday. It's worth more than a second reading. It may reveal ... or remind you... of more truth than you expect!
"We pray for the children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in mud puddles and ruin their new pants, who sneak popsicles before supper, who erase holes in their Math workbooks, who can never find their shoes. "And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who've never squeaked across the floor in new sneakers, who never "counted potatoes," who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead, who never go to the circus, who live in an X rated world. "We pray for children who bring sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with Band-Aids and sing off-key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup. "And we pray for those who never get dessert, who watch their parents watch them die, who have no safe blanket to drag behind, who can't find any bread to steal, who don't have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren't on anyone's dressers, whose monsters are real. "We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store, who pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the Tooth Fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of the car pool, who squirm in church and scream on the phone, whose tears we sometimes laugh at, and whose smiles can make us cry. "And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move but have no being. "We pray for children who want to be carried, and for those who must; for those we never give up on, and for those who don't get a chance; for those we smother, and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer." The author is anonymous. The message is timeless. Like the account recorded long ago by an observer who recalled: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, 'Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' Then Jesus called a little child to him... and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest... (And) Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.'" (Matthew. 18:1-5) It's not just another activity for paid staff. It shapes what we - and our world - are already becoming. Partners, anyone? CAPT J. David Atwater, CHC, USN
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