December 3, 2023
Listen:
Read Along:
A Time for Children
by Barbara Mason
At University UMC we are blessed with many adorable children, including an abundance of precious babies, and Children’s Time during the worship service is a joy for all of us. Christmas, the season of the Christ Child, is a season of delight for our little ones. The sparkling lights, the brightly wrapped presents, the ringing of bells, Christmas cookies and candy—truly a feast of the senses that excites them with anticipation.
But when I turn on the news, I see the broken bodies of children being removed from the rubble of wars and anxious children on journeys to safer countries. I see grieving families whose children have been lost to yet another school shooting. So many children, even some in our own country and state, live without enough healthy food, adequate health care, or a safe home or school. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” And yet, we adults of this world fail them.
My dream for this season of the Child in the manger is that a miracle of transformation will sweep across the globe, replacing prejudice, hatred, and war with compassion and cooperation, so that not only the Christmas dreams of our children, but the dreams of all children around the world will come true.
“Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
“I shall look at the world through tears. Perhaps I shall see things that dry-eyed I could not see.”
“Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit. We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always. Amen. ”
