David Pike and his wife, Kimberly, are members of our congregation. Several days ago, David posted an observation on his social media page. The previous Sunday morning, he was in church and heard a child praying out loud. Here are his observations:
“Every Sunday at church we have a time of confession of our sins. We take a moment to reflect and, as a group, pray a prayer of confession and ask forgiveness. Last Sunday as we began the prayer I hear this little piping voice in front of me.
“A small girl of around 7, I would guess, had her head bowed and was reciting the prayer and not missing a word. I am convinced you could preach a year on that image alone and not run out of things to say.
“I mean, here is this child, asking God for forgiveness, when she probably needed it the least of all. And I was struck also at the contrast to the world.
“This child is growing up with the understanding that there is someone to whom she is accountable, she is learning that we all make mistakes, but that we can be made new no matter the mistake, and she is learning that none of us are perfect, not even she.
“I think those things stand in contrast to a society that will tell her she gets an award just for breathing, that all her problems are external, and she should never question her own heart. There are so many more things that I think each of us could take from that image and I just found it beautiful.”
I’m pretty sure that I know who the little girl is, although, truthfully, it could be one of several. I find it beautiful too. I have knelt beside a number of our children who pray out loud and unashamedly on a number of times. It is beautiful and it is encouraging.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Children have to be taught to hate. They aren’t born with that trait. The same is true with bigotry, prejudice, sexism, racism, and all the rest. They learn all that from adults.
I visited an African American woman in her mid-80s about 15 years ago who was very ill. A native of a local county, we had several conversations over the next several months. When she was a little girl, it was forbidden for black and white children to play together.
“We did it anyway,” she laughed. “Kids just love other kids, whatever their color,” she told me. “If we got caught, we would get a whipping. But we played together anyway.” I find that beautiful too.
Years ago, a course I took taught that there were three parts to an individual: body, soul, and spirit. Each of the three need attention or the person will become unbalanced, we were informed. I grieve when I learn that children are given everything they need for the intellect and for their physical well-being, but their spiritual needs are ignored.
In the hospitals over the last two years, I have met a number of children, some very small, who lost a mother, a father, a sibling, or a grandparent. Those, like the little girl who prayed in church, always seemed to do better, to handle the tragedy in a more healthy manner, to, in spite of everything, trust God that, somehow, all would be well. Those who did not have a spiritual component to their lives looked, to me, to appear shell-shocked and lost.
Children who aren’t given food or are deprived of an education are considered victims of abuse or neglect. Are they any less neglected or abused when their spiritual selves are smothered?
This I know: the little girl who prayed has a vibrant spirituality, even for one so small. She has an awareness of God and His love that few adults have. Her parents care enough to encourage her spiritually. And that is really a beautiful thing.
[David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]
