Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Philosophy, Aristotle tells us, begins with wonder. It is not that reality is lacking in wonders, but we who are lacking in wonder, to wax Chestertonian. By nature, an experience of wonder involves, among other things, an encounter with the beautiful. As a transcendental (something innate in all being), beauty resides in all things. Very often, the monoty of everyday life can hinder our ability to wonder at beauty. We so easily get caught up in the routines of daily life that we fall into what Heidegger calls the “forgetfulness of being”. How utterly remarkable it is that anything at all exists. The universe is contigent, meaning that it does not exist out of necessity. That is the primary mystery of being—its sheer givenness; the fact that it does not have to exist, yet, it does.
Children have a natural aptitude for wonder. A child goes to the beach or the mountains for the first time and it struck with jaw dropping awe. Out in public, he desires to talk to every stranger and wants to know them personally. She cries over the death of a butterfly. He joyfully laughs at the seemingly mundane. She shares her toys without being prompted to do so. It is not the case that as adults we come to see things more clearly and therefore do not have the same responses. It is the exact opposite. The appropriate response to the beauty of the world is childlike wonder.
Saint Isaac the Syrian, beloved in the eastern spiritual tradition (also a universalist), asks what is the nature of a merciful heart. His response, it seems to me, echoes the exact sentiments of the childlike heart.
What is a merciful heart?
a heart on fire
for the whole of creation,
humanity,
the birds,
for the animals,
the demons,
and for all that exists.
By the recollection of them
the eyes of a merciful person
pour forth tears in abundance.
By the strong and vehement mercy
that grips such a person’s heart,
and by such great compassion,
the heart is humbled
and one cannot bear to hear or see
any injury or slight sorrow
in any of creation.
For this reason, such a person
offers up tearful prayer continually
even for irrational beasts,
for the enemies of the truth,
and for those who harm him,
that they be protected and receive mercy…
because of the great compassion
that burns without measure
in a heart that is in the likeness of God.
In a word, a merciful and childlike heart is one that sees God In all things. God, being the fullness of Being and that font from which all beings flow, has left an imprint of His Image on all things. God’s beauty shines forth in and through everything because all things live, move, and have their being in Him. Creation is not an exhibition of Divine power, but a reflection of Divine beauty. “I see God in everything, trees and pain and nights in the spring…” sings Zach Bryan. Not that I see God’s power on display, but that I see God’s Nature shining forth through this image of His beauty. To be a child is to see things as the truly are, not as we have been conditioned by the world to see them. As Christ says, Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God is not something that we have to wait to experience once we pass from this life. It is currently at hand and is something that we can see on display here and now, if we would just have the ability to see it. Therefore, blessed are the childlike, for they see things as God sees them.
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