Do Not Hinder Them

The chapel at Western Theological Seminary is a welcoming place. Warm light pours over the bread and the wine on the table in the center of the room. Little puddlets of water sit childlike at the foot of the font, where some had splashed during the vigorous acoustic pouring. The way all the chairs are circled around the table allow me to see the body of Christ (not just in the bread and wine but) in the people sitting across from me.

We sing and the pastor reads from Psalm 139. I'm mouthing the words, recalling how as a child my mom taught it to my brother and me. "You search me and know me ... If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me ... You knit me together in my mother's womb ... Such thoughts are too wonderful for me ... "

I hear the giggling of a little child. Dr. Billings, a great theological mind, is seated across from me. And he smiles toward the sound - he is the father. I watch him watch his child. He's happy to turn his attention from the sermon to assure his son that he belongs in this place.

Communion is introduced and we are invited to the table. Immediately, the little child, as if on cue, wobbles forward to the table with squeals of laughter, reaching up toward the bread. Nobody stops him! Dr. Billings just looks on and smiles calmly. A nearby adult takes the child's hand and helps him forward to take communion with us.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Luke 19:14