"Don't catch me..."

The four little girls were thrilled when I suggested we take a quick trip to the park before doing our Bible study, and even more excited by a game of "catch me." It consisted of them climbing as high as possible on the the climbing tower and taking turns jumping off into my arms (yes, my limbs and back complained about it loudly the next day).

After one child got bold enough to accomplish the stupendous feat of leaping the short distance to the ground alone, Carrie* decided she would try it too. As I stood with arms outstretched, she waved me away, saying, "I'm going to do it by myself." I smiled and moved to the side; she fidgeted with obvious trepidation, preparing to jump.

Looking at the ground, then back at me as I moved closer to allay her fears; her blue eyes large with concern, she appealed, "Don't catch me...but don't let me fall."

How can children be so unintentionally profound? For the rest of the evening that sentence kept churning in my mind. While her statement seemed humorously paradoxical, it made me think along more serious lines.

It seems to sum up those independent prayers we pray, when we come to God with plans of our own design, asking more for His approval than His direction. We boldly declare, "I'm going to do it by myself," but a little voice somewhere cautions that maybe we really do need Him, and so we compromise a bit, bravado yields slightly to timidity, and we add, "Don't catch me...but don't let me fall."

Perhaps, as I did with Carrie, He smiles at us and thinks, "Exactly how did you have in mind for me to that?" And that is when He says to us, Without Me, you can do nothing. If you don't let Me catch you, you will, inevitably, fall.

We studied the Easter story and talked about the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection. The youngest girl clambered into my lap and, not understanding the discussion, looked up at me and simply stated "God loves you." I smiled at her and replied, "He loves you too."

How can children be so unintentionally profound?

*Not their real names.