Become like children

For years I have wondered what Jesus meant by: "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). What do children have that some or most of us lack and why does this lack prevent us from entering the kingdom of heaven (the state of awareness in which we know what's happening)?

Natalie recently taught me. We had given her some bread that contained honey, not knowing that some young children are allergic to honey. So she got a diaper rash that got so bad that her skin broke. It was clearly very painful, especially in bath when we used soap to clean her. She cried. My wife and I were desperate; we had caused the pain of our sweet little girl. She used to have the greatest fun in bath, and now she was crying. We worried whether she would heal completely and how long it would take.

Before we put on her diaper my wife put some cream on her buttocks. It worked very fast and took away the pain. Right at that moment Natalie started laughing again. I wondered "How can you laugh when you have a diaper rash?" Then I realized the pain had been taken away and so had her reason to cry.

Getting wiser

Today I changed her diaper. After that, I said "Come, let's put on your pants." She corrected me instantaneously: "Those are tights, papa!"
Two years, 49 days old, and already getting smarter.

Why?

It all started March 9, 2005. A massive army of over 400 million soldiers marched into hostile territory. The battle was brutal and the losses were of epic proportions. Hundreds of millions were slaughtered in the first hour. The few that survived did so under cover of the bodies of their dead comrades. But each and every soldier was fully committed. They knew that the success of one would be the success of all. Wave after wave they sacrificed themselves for this higher purpose. In the end only a handful made it to their destination. One of them, a handsome young lieutenant managed to enter the residence of the princess. He seemed to have not suffered from the ferocious battle outside. When he saw the princess he smiled and enjoyed her ravishing beauty. The princess welcomed him, embraced him, and then ... they merged into one. A new child was conceived.

Fast forward to January 6, 2008. It has been 25 months now since her birth. Natalie is a beautiful little girl. "The joy of my life," I tend to say. But what use is joy if nobody pays attention? Am I consciously consuming all precious moments I spend with my daughter? God forbid I ever take them for granted. Do I really taste the rich flavours, enjoying each and every one of them, or do I just swallow them mindlessly? Blogging raises awareness. So here we go ...