Wisdom of a Six Year Old

My daughter shared a gem of wisdom with me this morning. She said,

"everything is good to use except weapons and hurtful words. A hurtful word is a weapon, and a weapon is a hurtful word."

She spent her dressing time making up and singing a song about stopping the war. She turned six about a week ago. She goes to a school with a large immigrant population. Our priest is from Kenya and happens to be visiting in Kenya right now, helping those in need during the current turmoil. She hears and sees the results of displacement and hurt. And God has blessed her with a shrewd mind, caring heart, and gifts of music, words, and art.

How do I create a haven of peace and compassion in my heart, mind, and body, a disciplined tongue, so that the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control infect our immediate world and spread faster and more thoroughly than disease, poverty, dissension, confusion, chaos, lies, fear, hatred, ambivalence, isolation, and mistrust?

Today, I will ponder the wisdom of my child. I will curb my tongue, question thoughts that would rise as bile on my lips, try to see the other side of issues, to understand others, and keep my body at peace so that it does not become a weapon, nor wield one against others or myself.

One thought that flits through my head as I ponder the universal wisdom of my child is, "if life is a continual journey toward God, then why do children find it easier to see Truth and enter into God's presence than adults?" The child's simplicity and holiness awes me and leads me closer to God. It is why I still work as a catechist at our church. I sometimes think my role as catechist is as humble follower of the child. Other times I think it is to encourage them to know that they are in Truth. Perhaps it is as simple as custodian of a quiet, sacred space to nurture these beautiful beings communing with God. They don't need me to tell them they know God; they know that they know God.

And these thoughts confirm again for me that coming to God is more than magic words or moments. It is constantly reminding the self of the humbling power of Grace: we begin in God, from God, and for God.