Chaos

"Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Mark 10:14

On Sunday, I worshipped in a place of chaos. Surrounded by small children, I found it hard to concentrate on the sermon or to worship in my usual way. About to become irritated, I suddenly realized that I was lucky enough to be able to worship in the midst of the future of Eastridge church. That random thought made worship so much easier and I grinned at the small child and laughed as I thought of the burp from the preceding Sunday.

Instead of gray heads, I was surrounded by young thriving children and their parents. Dressed for whatever might come their way, they bowed their heads, listened to their children sing, and generally tried to pay attention. They were especially interested in the music and children’s moment when the time came. I remembered the passage in the Bible where Jesus says, “suffer little children to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.”

It is so good to check on these little folk, their names never stay with me long for after all I am old. But they report on chapter books, tell me about school, stop to tie grandmother’s shoe. When my oldest child was little, she sang a song which had a phrase, “I don’t want to wait until I am grownup to be like Jesus wants me to be. I can read the Bible and pray, do a loving kindness today.” I do not remember who wrote the song or what the title was, for that was nearly 50 years ago, but I do remember a small child really believing it. Yes, the church service was nearly in chaos but the future of our church looks bright and that is still another item to be thankful for in this time of giving thanks to God for all we have.

Prayer: Thank you God for little folks, for old folks and those in between. Thank you, God, for giving us all that we need and time to enjoy it all. Thank you, God, for patience and love exhibited in young parents and grandparents and help us all to appreciate what we have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Carolyn Olsen (reprinted from 2018)