Article October 29, 1984 Issue

As a child

NELLE O. SPROWLS

There can be no doubt of the vital importance of childlike qualities, since our Master, Christ Jesus, said quite plainly, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."^{Matt. 18:3.}

Sometimes these pure and lovely qualities seem buried under layers of sophistication and false education. But they are always present because they are spiritual. And they are native to each one of us because each of us is actually an individual idea of God, reflecting and expressing the qualities our Master commended in children. Human age is not a factor in divine reflection. Man can never lose what the Father gives him, nor are these gifts dimmed by the passage of time. However, we do need to unearth these precious treasures, dust them off, polish and use them.

The following experience shows the penetrating power of a pure, childlike thought. One day a young mother felt very ill. She remained in bed, unable to rise. Her son, age three and a half, was concerned. He climbed up on the bed to sit with his mother. She tried to explain the situation, how she hurt, how tired she was. The family were students of Christian Science, and the little boy had attended the Sunday School since he was two. The child looked at his mother with large and loving eyes for a while. Then he asked, "Did God make you sick?" "No, dear, of course not," replied the mother. After a few more moments of consideration, the child said, "Well, then, why don't you get up?" He slid off the bed and went back, quietly, confidently, to his play.

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