In the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy wrote that children are “the spiritual thoughts and representatives of Life, Truth, and Love” (p. 582). I have a beautiful five-year-old girl who reminds me often of the simplest part of practicing Christian Science. From her, I’ve learned that many times children’s thoughts can be purer and more receptive to God than adult’s thoughts.

We teach our children so many things. We care for them, love them, teach them while they are babies and even after they’re grown. It’s hard to remember that children have so much to teach us. They are these perfect, pure beings that let love shine so generously. Many times, as adults, we hold ourselves back from letting this love show. We get wrapped up in fear, doubt, or anger, and it seems to dim or block the love that is constantly shining from us. Children are unencumbered by the negative mentality of mortal mind. They freely receive and accept good without question.

One day, I was parking the car in an open spot near a store when another car hurriedly swung into the space beside me. Before I could even open my door, the man driving the car got out of his car and proceeded to scream at me, accusing me of taking his space. After saying that I didn’t realize that this space was his, since he had been walking around the parking lot with his car idling instead of waiting for a space, he yelled a bit more, adding a few choice phrases. Then he went inside the store.

Startled, I got out of my car and helped my kids out of the back seat. I was aware that they had heard everything, and I didn’t say anything else. My children could sense my mood. Two-year-olds and five-year-olds aren’t known for being closemouthed, at least not in our house, but these two kids stayed quiet while I shopped.

Then, my five-year-old daughter suddenly said, “Mommy, it wasn’t nice of that man to yell at you.” I thought, “No, it wasn’t,” and it made me feel a bit more justified in being upset that this man would yell at me for a misunderstanding. She added right afterward, “He was listening to ‘error,’,” and gave a satisfied nod of her head. I had to smile.

I knew that term from reading Science and Health, but I just had to go and ask my daughter what “error” was and where she learned that to hear what her response would be. She said it’s “the bad stuff” that isn’t a part of God. I asked her if there was anything that isn’t a part of God, and she said, “No, that’s why error isn’t real; it’s nothing.” She said that she learned all that from me.

My daughter made me realize in the simplest of ways that the man who had confronted me was still a child of God, despite his behavior, and that I needed to love him with a true Christian love. I also couldn’t let this incident affect or ruin the day or my mood because it was just “error,” a mistaken view of God’s all-good creation.

My little girl saw things more clearly and cut to the truth of the situation quicker than I did. I think this is why Mary Baker Eddy referred to children as God’s “thoughts.” Children are often there to guide us in the simplest and purest ways. Another incident in which I observed this childlike innocence happened when my daughter and I were playing a game we sometimes do. It goes like this: “I love you more.” “No, I love you more.” “I love you a thousand times.” “I love you a thousand and one times.” One time, my daughter said, “I love you like God loves you.” I had to do a double-take. She was just smiling sweetly at me. She’d cut to the center, the whole, the spiritual reality, so swiftly that it took my breath away. She loves so freely, honestly, and openly. It seems like it took me my lifetime to learn to try to love “like God” and without boundaries, which is such an incredible experience.

The truth is, the innate capability to love completely this way is and always has been a part of us. It was never something that I needed to learn, but always is something that I need to constantly use.

As a parent, I thought that I always needed to be the one to teach and set the example. Instead, I’ve seen how my children are constantly teaching me what’s pure and true. They are so often my angel thoughts from God.