Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Childlikeness and Teachability

In today’s Gospel, Matthew 11: 25-27, Jesus gives praise to His Father for revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom--things hidden from the wise-- to those who are childlike.  Things divine are being revealed to those who are teachable, open to learning, eager to listen, whose hearts are filled with wonder and awe as they discover new things about creation, about others, about the universe and all that is in it.  Am I teachable? Or am I a know-it-all?  Am I open to learning or am I the person who does not believe she has more to learn from anyone or anything?  Am I eager to listen or is my hearing blocked because of my prejudices, my arrogant attitudes, my fears, my busyness about “more important” things upon which my eyes are riveted? Do I let go of my agenda long enough to be open to the new, the unexplored, the risky, the uninviting aspects of a given day?  Am I willing, for instance, to hang out with children and teens to learn from them, to listen to them, to get to know them? Am I willing to spend time with the lonely, the elderly, the forgotten, those imprisoned in mental illness, in an addiction, in a chronic, debilitating, terminal disease, to those who feel hopeless and unloved to discover  the mysteries of Kingdom within these populations?


“You have hidden these things from the wise…and revealed them to the childlike” (Matthew 11:25).  Am I one of those childlike persons? If not, what do I need to change within myself to become childlike?

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