Reprinted from The Christian Science Monitor: Easter's call to be childlike

Patricia Hardee

Little children love Easter. It may seem their enjoyment involves only the fun of Easter egg hunts, jelly beans, and baskets of chocolate bunnies. But these are only symbols of the true attraction they can feel.

They may not yet understand the significance of the holy time of Easter, but they may feel it. Little children are all about love and joy, and in their innocence they are quick to respond to the mental atmosphere of those around them who rise in the spiritual celebration of Easter.

Tobin Hart, Ph.D., author of The Secret Spiritual World of Children, would probably agree. He speaks of the growing evidence that children are naturally attuned to the spiritual. He writes: “Nearly all children experience ways of knowing and being—outside of any training or rituals. They include awe and wonder, intense feelings of love and compassion, startling moments of wisdom, and a deep curiosity about the profound nature of life. They are naturally attuned to the spiritual.”

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