"A child shall lead them."
by William S. Stoertz
July 23, 1999
On the way to the nursery the other day,
Masha said, "Masha is Mama. Papa is boy."
I said, "Okay, Mama." I'm getting used to
her saying these things. They please me.
I thought about how in the Bible (Isaiah)
there is a prophecy about the coming Messiah
where it says, "A child shall lead them."
That would have been the right attitude
for Jesus' parents, for the Jewish leaders,
and for all Israel and the whole world to take
when Jesus Christ was born.
When Jesus was twelve, he went to the
Temple and asked the high priests profound
questions, and then, when they didn't know
the answers, Jesus proceeded to tell them
the answers -- he taught them. A boy was
teaching the religious leaders! Then Jesus'
parents, on the way home in the caravan,
realized their son wasn't there, and went back,
and found him teaching in the Temple. Then
"he submitted unto them" and they took him
back home.
Actually, Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph,
didn't take Jesus seriously as the Son of God,
the Messiah, nor as a Prophet, a Teacher, nor
a great Healer -- to say nothing of King! Though
in fact they basically knew who he was -- that
was no secret to them -- they didn't completely
take that attitude. Rather they were annoyed
by him and even ashamed of Him.
What should their attitude toward their son
have been? They should have thought of him
and always treated him as the Holy of Holies
-- as someone far more precious than
themselves, as the gift of God to them and to
all mankind. They should have consulted him
and his conscience or intuition in everything
even from the youngest age. Even when he
was a baby, he was the most holy jewel, who
sanctified everyone and everything around him.
As soon as he was made known to the
religious leaders (even to the magi, or the three
wise men who attended Him at his birth), they
should have recognized him as the child of
prophecy, and the Son of God, the Savior of
Mankind, the Prince of Heaven, and attended
him in that way throughout their life and his
life. They should have been waiting for him.
Their were prophecies in Scripture about him,
there were revelations to those immediately
around him or preceding him, and there is a
plain common sense, which humble and
innocent people reflected or expressed toward
him. We should be like that.
Even though we are parents, teachers,
leaders, wise, experienced and professional
people, we should take this attitude toward a
new and purer generation who will be coming
up: We are shaded, jaundiced, jaded, wizened,
cynical, impure. A generation is coming up
after us which is pure, radiant, hopeful, innocent,
spiritually and heartistically sensitive, and gifted
with innate, heavenly wisdom.
For me, that is Masha (my daughter Mariya
Jeong-Ah Stoertz).
Rev. Moon ("True Father") said, "Now the
time has come, the time of reversal of all things.
Now the children should become parents to
their grandparents, the grandparents should
become children to their grandchildren. Now
east and west, left and right... -- all will be
reversed. What has been high must become
low, what has been low must become high.
Now is the time of the upheaval or cosmic
turnaround."
Let us just say: Even though we may not
like the messenger, we should anyway receive
his message.
There is another saying: "One who receives
a messenger instead of responding to his
message, is entitled to the Kingdom of Heaven."
In any case, let us become the filial pious
sons and daughters who can be entitled to the
Kingdom of Heaven. All kinds of qualities are
necessary and valuable to enter the heavenly
kingdom, and the time is now.
One quality we must have is to be willing
to receive a command even from a child.
Of course you have to make sure that what
the child is saying (feeling, sensing, intuiting,
etc.) is really right.
In fact, a little while later, Masha was tired,
and she said, "Pick me up, Daddy." Then she
fell asleep sweetly in my arms and I took her
the rest of the way home.
I feel blessed by my daughter. Even though
I know a lot more than her, and I have to watch
for that she doesn't run out into the street or
hang out the window too far, my life and my
existence is sanctified or redeemed by her.
Aren't we all saved by our children?
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