God – KING OF THE UNIVERSE AND MASTER OF ENDLESS GLORY – runs along behind my most unworthy soul!
The other day I was walking in the park with my children, and as we walked, we saw a young mother running behind her beautiful little girl who was pedalling frantically down the hill on her little rainbow coloured tricycle.
The little girl was obviously having the time of her life! She was flying through that park at the fastest speed she could muster, and she had not a care in the world.
She was not worried about potentially falling over. She was not worried about crashing into a person or a dog or a tree. She was not worried about getting lost. She was not worried about the road or the cars or strangers or anything in fact… The only thing on that little girl’s mind was her enjoyment of life and her confidence and freedom!
I watched her rather puffed-out mother running along behind this child. She obviously loved her child and wanted to give her freedom to have some fun. But she was watchful. “Careful,” She called from time to time as the little girl steered too close to a tree or human. “Slow down please!” She called when the child got close to the road.
And as I watched those two, I was reminded of Our Blessed Lord – Our Heavenly Father…
You see, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus advised that we should be as little children to God. We should be small and innocent and spend our lives wishing to please Him in the way that very small children wish to please their parents.
And so, as I watched this little girl on her rainbow-coloured tricycle, it occurred to me that this is exactly how we should be living our life in Christ…
You see, that little girl was fearless. She was not worried about falling over or being injured or even about strangers who she could harm or who might accost her… Instead, she raced ahead, confidently and without a care in the world.
This is exactly how God wants us to be because faith – REAL faith – is the knowledge that everything will be okay! And if we really really had faith we would be UNABLE to worry. For worry and faith are incompatible. Saint Padre Pio famously said, “Pray, hope and don’t worry.” This could just as easily be rephrased to say, “Pray, hope and have faith…” Because that is what it really means when we are told not to worry.
And I have been reflecting on that little girl very much since seeing her in the park the other day – because she rode with FAITH because she knew her mother was behind her. And that means that she understood that if anything bad happened her mother would be there to sort it all out for her and so she had nothing to worry about!
And I keep thinking to myself that this little child – with so much less knowledge and experience of the world than me – could easily place all her trust (every single ounce of it) in a single fallible human parent.
And now, I am ashamed. Because here I sit – as a woman of faith – with all the doubts and worries that crowd my mind. And why? After all, the Parent who runs after me, is not some frail fallible human mother – God, the ETERNAL and INVINCIBLE God of the Entire Universe – follows me around like a wet-nurse. And still I am afraid!
What have I to fear of suffering or pain? After all, those are just the ways that my Eternal Parent calls out to me, “Careful.” “Slow down please!” He allows the suffering to change my course so that all will not be lost.
And if I listen to those cries of my God – the loving suffering he sometimes sends – with a faith-filled heart, how could I ever be afraid?
Instead – with Grace – I could have faith instead of fear and I could be like that little girl riding fearlessly in the park, completely unafraid, with God – KING OF THE UNIVERSE AND MASTER OF ENDLESS GLORY – running along behind my most unworthy soul!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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