Nettles and Wolves
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 19:14
I’ve long observed that there are very few theological dilemmas not raised by children as young as three or four. Though their inquiries lack the sophistication of scholars, they express the core issue.
Case in point: I was once out on a country walk with a three-year-old. It was a lovely summer day. He was happily extolling nature, saying things like, God made the birds. God made the grass. God made the ducks. Suddenly he veered off path, distracted by a butterfly, and walked directly into a thicket of stinging nettles. I’ll never forget the expression on his face as he looked up at me, face contorted in pain, and said confusedly, God made the nettles…?!?
There it was. The problem of pain. How do we align the notion of a “Good God” with a world in which danger, suffering, and evil also exist?
Another example: Our son, at age five, asked a most difficult question. His kindergarten friend was Jewish and had told him about Hitler. Our son was very distressed. In particular, he worried that Hitler would come and hurt his friend. No, we assured him, your friend is safe. Hitler is dead now.
Sometime earlier in his life we’d explained that we believe when people die, they go to be with God. So he then asked the most logical question: Is Hitler now with God?
Stump me then and stump me now. How does one answer that? Especially in terms that a five-year-old can handle.
Yet kids don’t just pose thorny questions. Often they identify new solutions. For example, one day I was reading the story of the Three Little Pigs. Our son was four. We got to the part where the pigs are huddled in their brick house, the wolf is on the roof, and the pigs have put a big kettle of boiling water on the fire.
My son piped up right there. Mom, they should cook some noodles for the wolf! If they feed him, he won’t be hungry anymore.
He was exactly right. What a different approach to the problem than destroying the wolf! Befriend him instead. Recognize the wolf’s need and work to meet it, for all their sake. Our son saw possibilities with eyes of compassion, not fear, possibilities that had never occurred to me, though I’d heard that story countless times. His solution brought to mind the classic tale of St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio, where St. Francis helps the townspeople establish peace with their wolf instead of fearing and fighting him. (https://tamingthewolf.com/about/saint-francis-and-the-wolf/)
In these days of so much turmoil and division, we would do well to bend our hearts back to the wisdom of children. To recover our kindness, innocence. To respond with goodwill, generosity, inclusion.
For Christians this is not mere suggestion. Jesus, in fact, considered this essential. As scripture says,
He called a little child to him and placed the child among them.
And he said: “Truly I tell you,
unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-3 (NIV)
– Kate Maynard
