Mark 10: 13-15
"People were bringing their little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he was indignant. He said to them, 'Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'"

Three weeks ago God blessed our family richly when our daughter Jackie gave birth to her first daughter, Meghan. Looking at our newest granddaughter, and thanking God for her birth, I quietly mused, "how can one not believe in miracles?" I know I do. I always have. Soon Meghan will be baptized and in a few short years will join other children at the altar each Sunday for the pastor's children's sermon. I enjoy these homilies and delight in observing the little ones' enthusiastic participation as they hear the Word, ofttimes "offering assistance" to Dan. These brief sermonettes teach and inspire me, too. Throughout life I have frequently learned much from children -- my own as well as my friends ---- usually by their blunt and unabashed truthfulness. Their pithy observations are unvarnished, right to the point and many times "politically incorrect" but, cogent and instructive they usually are.

Their comments can sometimes be keenly profound and humorous. A bit of levity illustrates the point: A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was? The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute." Profound. After all, isn't that what faith and belief is all about. What God looks like is what He looks like to each of us.

As many of you know, I love baseball. I even remember when professional baseball was still a game. Recently the Little League World Series was held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and I watched many of the round-robin play-off games as the sixteen teams of twelve year olds competed in order to advance to the final championship game. The motto of Little League Baseball is "character, courage, loyalty." Every boy clearly believed in and practiced this credo on the field. They set a fine example for their major league professional counterparts to follow. And, for us too. In practicing our Christian faith daily, we might do well to emulate these youngsters by striving to show our Christian character, our spiritual and moral courage, and our unremitting loyalty to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior. Yes, we can surely learn from children, just as they constantly look up to us to guide and teach them.