I am on a mission to explore: 1) the spirituality of children, and 2) the effect children have on the spirituality of those around them. Children are amazing beings. They can go from cute to annoying in two seconds flat. And then from maddening to wise-beyond-their-years in another two seconds.

This tendency (along with other tendencies like eating dirt and walking around with half a chocolate bar melted around their lips) makes it easy to overlook their ability to have clear spiritual vision.

Kids asks questions…lots of questions. As a mom of three boys, I answer questions all day long. “Where is my toy?”, “What’s for dinner?”, “Why can’t I have that?”, “Are you mad, Mommy?”, “What is that bad smell in the garage?”. Sometimes, I tune these questions out. One can only handle so many questions.

But from out of the blue, in the middle of these mundane questions, will come one that shakes me out of my stupor.
      “Why did God make me?”
      “What is heaven like?”
      “Why do you love me?”

Have you ever been relaxed, let’s say sleeping, and a sudden clap of thunder makes you jump up, heart racing, for one confusing moment until you figure out where that jarring sound so out of place in your everyday world came from? These questions are like that.

My oldest nephew, Peter, began it. He was only five years old at the time. He saved his questions until I was home from college for the summer, and as soon as we were alone, I knew I had to be prepared for anything (like “Where does the devil live” I don’t want to go there, I just want to know.”) My own three boys continue it, asking questions from funny to frightening (scary because I feel so inadequate to answering well).

I have worked with many children in a variety of settings, and received questions from them all. This past year I was privileged to witness two different episodes of children’s questions of faith. One was in our children’s choir at our parish. One child asked the director one simple question about Adam and Eve. She answered him, and suddenly every child there had something to ask. The director, a wise woman, let them ask, and tried to answer some herself. A few weeks later she asked the children to write their questions down, and had our pastor come in to answer them. The children do not know how lucky they are someone took their faith seriously, listened, then acted. Or maybe they did know, and that was why they felt safe to ask.

The second episode was in the Religious Education class I taught. One child asked a question one class period, and soon all 18 children had their hands in the air. It was a completely overwhelming, but exhilarating experience.

The questions affected my life as much as, or more, than they did the children who asked them. They reminded me that I sometimes stop asking, stop wondering, and stop seeking. I forget to be curious. I am too busy to be passionate. I am too tired to want to grow.

I hope to examine the childlike tendencies that we need even as grown-ups. After all, we are called to be children as well, children of God. Let us allow the children to speak to us, so that we can better shepherd them.

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