People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them, and when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, called the children to himself and said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them: for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”  

"A thousand times I’ve seen you standing. Gravity like a lunar landing. You make me wanna run till I find you; I shut the world away from here. I drift to you, you’re all I hear as everything we know fades to black. Half the time the world is ending; truth is: I am done pretending. I never thought that I had any more to give. Here I am without you. Everything will change, but love remains the same. We could have had the sun, could have been inside; instead, we're over here." 

Gavin Rossdale's song "Love Remains the Same" is a song of what could have been. The person in the song is talking to his girlfriend, but one is not sure whether she will respond or not, although it is what he wants with all his heart. Now he is about to make a decision, and since pretending to be in love has not worked in the past, he concludes that honesty is the only way to go. Since love remains the same, he will be honest with her, and accept the consequences.

The disciples of Jesus were often far from the truth as they guessed what Jesus was all about. There are many instances in the Gospels in which they judged that they knew what he was thinking, but they did not. It was true especially with Jesus' thought about children. They thought that he did not want anything to do with children, and in reality, Jesus wanted the simplicity and honesty of children to be one of the foundations of the kingdom he preached. And so, he was always open to them.

The one thing that children have, even though they have active imaginations, is honesty. They may pretend, but they will never pretend at love. They realize how much they need it. They know instinctively that love will only come if they are honest. Paradoxically, it is one of the characteristics of mature love as well. The person in Gavin Rossdale's song, for example, understands that real love will only come to the person who does not pretend at love. "I am done pretending," he sings.

Romantic young love is often nothing more than "pretend love." Young people try to fool themselves into thinking that they are in love because they want it so badly. They "act it out"; they do the things that they think will make them receive love more; they do not "act themselves," or the like. If people are still only pretending that love is present in their romantic lives, they are playing games with love, and not really loving at all. Love, romantic and otherwise, must be true, like a child's love shown to people who love them. Mature love must be honest love.                  

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, one of the reasons your Son loved little children was that they teach us lessons, such as being honest in our approach to life and love. Give us the grace to learn that lesson well. Be with us, we pray. 

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America