The 'Child' within!

THE ‘CHILD’ WITHIN!

Cl. Mario D’Couto SDB

            One of the classic gospel passages that highlights the importance of being a child is found in Luke 18: 15 -17. A child is one who is open and innocent. There is no malice or guile found in a child. It does not think or worry about how to manipulate, exploit or extract sources for the wrong reasons. It is for this reason, therefore, that each child is an image of God.

            In the world that we live in that has, so to say, been marred by the fast – paced life, everything that a person does, is geared towards how much “I” can get from it. Thus, in this case, the “I” or the “ego” becomes dominant. In a child, this is not the case. He or she is always open and is therefore ready to adjust.

            ‘Play’ is an important aspect in a child’s life. It takes him or her to another world and brings in a lot of joy and happiness. Sometimes, in our busy schedule, it is nice to play for a little while on a regular basis as it eases the tension within. This would include anything like playing a sport or playing music. Let us therefore not be perturbed to bring out the ‘child’ within. However, it is important to be ‘childlike” and not “childish.” There is a big difference between the two. Being ‘childlike’ includes those qualities that have already been mentioned before such as openness, docility, innocence and so on. Being ‘childish,’ on the other hand, involves throwing one’s tantrums and being fussy about anything and everything.


            I guess each of us is mature enough to choose the path we want to follow. So let us therefore become ‘childlike’ and not ‘childish’.

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