“As you change and become like little children, you are able to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus’s words from Matthew 18
Starter Prayer: God our Loving Parent, help me let go of my self-importance, and lead me into a full lifetime of happy childhood.
Joy is the most vulnerable emotion of all. Dr. Brené Brown
Blessings on this Holy Wednesday Evening. As I write this, there is a glimmer of good news about the COVID-19 curve possibly flattening out. Also, last night during the supermoon, I had my first experience of hearing the neighborhood come outside and howl in support of frontline workers. Both these things give me JOY. And there is one more. Last night at dusk, the neighborhood streets were full of families riding bikes with kids and dogs. (Well the dogs were trotting along.) It all reminded me of the JOY Dave and I had taking our girls on bike rides when they were young. We had bikes, and baby bike seats, and at one point– two bike trailers. In the bike riding, we felt like children again. The wind in our hair, the picnic dinner in the trailer, the happy children without a care in the world. Our Crossroads Church family is reading through the Gospel of Matthew over the seven days of Holy Week. This morning my colleague Ryan Howell was live on Facebook talking about Jesus’s statement: “Only as you change and become like little children are you able to enter the kingdom of heaven.” All the howling and biking and moon gazing and news of fewer COVID cases is an occasion for innocent JOY. If you participated in enjoying anything like this today, take courage– you are participating in the kingdom of God!
Spiritual Practice
If you haven’t seen Ryan’s mini-teaching on kids and the kingdom of heaven, do yourself a favor and watch it. Remember that JOY is the most vulnerable emotion of all. Allow yourself to feel JOY without trying to guard your heart with realism or cynicism– what Brené Brown calls “foreboding joy”. As you do these things, I’m confident God will lead you deeper into the lifetime of happy childhood you are created to enjoy. May the Joy of the LORD be your strength this Holy Wednesday, KatieYou can find this post and posts like this on Katie’s blog: katiemartinezawake.com.
