Jesus' life was one that did not have much rest. People were around him until the end of the day. He would pray until the second or third watch of the night. If that was not possible, he would wake up early in the morning and go to a deserted place to pray. Somehow, maybe during a midday, when he had some time alone, Jesus sat down to rest for a while. At that time, some mothers came with their children looking for him to bless them. But the disciples stopped them. On seeing this, it seems Jesus rebuked his disciples. He even tells them, "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them." I did not think anything more about it than that Jesus had a special love for children. But today, when I was sharing this passage with children, I immediately realized that it is not just a matter of liking them, but also about older people like me. Because more than once, Jesus said the same thing to adults. "Unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven", said Jesus. When there was a dispute among the disciples about who among them was the greatest, Jesus had a child as an example to give them.

I have scribbled here about the spiritual childlikeness once or twice before.

It is often said that children are innocent. That statement is not necessarily true in the sense of being without any malice. They are receivers, they live dependently on adults, and so on.

There are three characteristics that I feel like mentioning right now regarding childlikeness.

1 They are not act-oriented, but person-oriented. They are the least judgmental ones. They accept everyone and everything as persons. They may consider cats, dogs, and even dolls as persons.

2 Their wonderment is not based on the size or status. Diamonds and gold may not attract them as much as a mere colorful marble. Wealth,

status and positions are not a big deal to them. For us adults, those are the most important things, right?

3 Unlike adults, they are very close to their own personal identity. They are the least contaminated or polluted in their personhood!

'The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these'