Bonus: Childlike Acceptance (An Advent Reflection)

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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James Finley (0:08)

Greetings, I'm Jim Finley.

Kirsten Oates (0:11)

And I'm Kirsten Oates.

James Finley (0:12)

Welcome to Turning to the Mystics.

Kirsten Oates (0:23)

Welcome everyone to this bonus episode of Turning to the Mystics, where we're turning to our very own Jim Finley to guide us into this Advent season. And before I hand over to Jim, I just wanted to let everyone know that we're here recording this podcast as part of a live virtual gathering. And after Jim's talk, people who are with us today are going to be asking Jim some questions. So, we're very excited.

So, Jim, welcome.

James Finley (0:55)

Yes, thank you. I'm so glad to be here together like this. Thank you. You know, I'll introduce this reflection here with you by saying that I first started writing these reflections about this particular set of reflections about 10 years ago on how to live a more contemplative way of life in the midst of the world. And seeing the one way to do this is to offer a series of reflections on the mystical dimensions of discipleship. That is to take a saying of Jesus or a gesture of Jesus and seeing it as a path of clarity or awareness that we can internalize to become more aware of God's oneness in our lives. And so this is offered in the context of this kind of mystical gospel series of reflections. I want to say also at the beginning that this is poetic. And so it's not academic at all, but there is a kind of an intuitive density to it, which is why by having it archived, if you care to go back and listen to it and sit with it, hopefully it will help you in your own spiritual journey. And so with that then, I'll begin with this meditation.

My childlike acceptance is the path to heaven. And our text is Jesus saying to us, unless you accept the kingdom of God as a small child, you shall not enter it. I'll begin with sharing an event, an experience that I had. Years ago, I was on a plane flying somewhere to lead a silent contemplative retreat. And I was sitting in the aisle seat, and I had my Sermons of Meister Eckhart open, or Teresa of Avila, whatever it was. I had my fountain pen out, and I was working on my talks. And sitting next to me in the middle seat was a woman reading a magazine. And sitting in the window seat was her little boy. Maybe he was four.

And the little boy was looking out the window. He said over his shoulder to his mother, he said, Mommy, does the man driving the plane know where Grandma lives? As you could sense, he was trying to take all this in. And the mother said to her little boy, without looking up from her magazine, she said, Close enough, she said. And I thought, you know, it's a pretty clever answer, because if Grandma lives in the greater Chicago area, the Chicago airport where the plane was headed, is close enough. But her child was too little to appreciate the cleverness of her answer. The child just accepted it. And then, a moment later, something really amazing happened. The mother turned and looked at the back of her child's head. She closed her magazine, and she leaned over, put her face up next to his, and joined him in looking out the window. It was such a little thing, really, so subtle. There was no announcement over the speaker system congratulating the woman and her little boy. Very subtle.

But in realizing that her close enough answer wasn't nearly good enough, that she and her child both deserved better, and she was drawn by his acceptance to join him in the child's acceptance. And together, I sense that, interiorly, even before they arrived at her mother's house, his grandmother, she was in the midst of a homecoming, drawing closer to her origin. And I could also feel within myself, as I continued writing, I could feel myself, interiorly, like leaning in with her, kind of drawn by the awakening energies of this subtle, kind of sacred moment. And we're all familiar with this. That is, we all know what it's like to be, to experience that our defenses are being breached by the unguarded acceptance of a small child. And we draw in closer, like there's something wondrous about it, a source of a kind of awakening delight in it.

Now this insight, that there's something about the childlike acceptance, the acceptance of small children, that has a certain inner richness to life itself, this insight is an ancient one.