Through the eyes of a child

Happy New Year. A bit after the actual fact, but I wanted to wait until all the big hoopla over the actual event had calmed down a tad to share that sentiment with you.

The New Year’s Eve day reading from my daily devotion shared some words that gave me pause. Easy words to read, not quite so easy to process. The writer urges us to make a resolution to become more childlike, not childish, in the coming year. What a concept.

Young children often experience their world with awe, as if everything they see and learn and hear and taste is totally amazing. Would that this feeling of newness stayed with us throughout our lives. I believe it can.

If you think about it, many of the everyday happenings and events that we encounter are nothing short of miraculous, even those explained by science. Sunrise and sunset – every day for as long as this world has been in existence, and for as long as we can see into the future. The miracle of life itself. The laughter of children. The joy of loving relationships. The special abilities and talents that each and every one of us nurtures, whether we admit them to others or not (think singing in the shower, for one). The strength of a smile. The changing seasons. And the list continues.

I remember seeing the joy on the faces of my children and grandchildren when they were young when playing outside, of seeing their grandparents or friends, of learning new words and concepts, of being read to and reading to me, of Christmas mornings, of playing with puppies or kittens, or anything else that is new in their life. Even then I wished that those moments of childlike wonder could carry over into their adulthood.

Let us then move away from the immaturity of childishness, of selfishness and outbursts of temper, of pettiness simply for the sake of proving a point, and instead respond in a more positive manner, leaving unsaid words that may only aggravate others. It is possible. In these days, in fact, that effort is needed more than ever.

We just ended the season of Christmas which begins with the birth of a baby – a child – who taught us to love, to hope, to be at peace, to find joy in the smallest and most mundane matters, to find awe and amazement in the world we are blessed to live in.

So let’s confidently move into 2026 looking and responding in a childlike manner, as if all things are good – as they mostly are. No childishness and selfishness. Even if it’s just you being more childlike, your inner child will be happy and laughing and at peace with the person you are, or the person you want to become. You’re never too old to be childlike in your response to life. And that’s all that matters.