Good Sunday afternoon.
Today's blog is a short sketch of a sermon ... a skeleton, you might say.

Today's readings in my corner of Christianity was :
Psalm 8
Collossians 1:15-19
Mark 10:13-16
- - -
Now, in this corner of Christianity, we baptize children, and we read the passage from Mark every time. It's part of the baptismal readings. This means, that both I and the regular church-goers think we know all about it.
But think.
Unless you receive the Kingdom of Heaven like a litltle child, you won't be admitted at all !

This makes it quite ... essential to find out what sets a child apart from adults ... apart from size and physical development.

The ... traditional take on this passage, frequently makes me slightly nauseous. It's something with glittery pictures, and quite un-child-like children in clothes that stay clean and whole, and a Jesus who is slightly blonde with a good hair-day, well-coiffed sheep ....
I'm sure you get my drift.
This isn't even fairy-tale ! because fairy-tales know that children aren't necessarily good and obedient and well-behaved and ....
... well ... they aren't ... as anyone who has had any kind of close interaction with real children will know :-)
"The innocent ones" are selfish little buggers with a keen eye on what's in it for them. And that's not because they are evil. That's because they haven't yet acquired that thin layer of varnish which enables adults to have a hidden agenda.
A 3-yr old who wants an ice-cream can nag and scream and physically throw himself around to an extent which can be painful in the extreme to the parent, and most 3-yr olds knows in detail how long it will take for the parent to cave in. And believe me, if it usually takes 30 minutes, that's how long they will scream ! They aren't stupid ! ... and they know what they want.
And if we take this with us into today's Gospel, we get a picture which is very far removed from the traditional "pretty picture" version.

So, here's my suggestions, based on that reading :
Seek the Realm of God with the same, one-eyed determination that a 3-year old can use to get an ice-cream. Do not budge ! Shout, scream and DEMAND that you get access !
Because ... what's in it for you is good :-) and you know it !
What's in it for you is life, which is not measured in hours and days and years, but in heartbeats.
What's in it for you is the peace, which is not just absence of violence, but which is growth and joy. Creation at work with Creator. God and man re-conciled.
What's in it for you is love, comfort, grace, acceptance, help ... everything a child needs from a parent.
So ... storm against the gates of Heaven ! knowing that the answer to the childish question of "What's in it for me" is ... everything !
You are a child of God :-)
Be that :-)
God bless you.