She looked at me wide-eyed, then turned to the stool, bent over, and patted it saying, “Gentle!” Finally, she kissed it.
Many saints encourage us to “kiss your cross,” embracing like Christ the suffering in our lives. Though a simple command, it requires extraordinary humility, patience, and mortification to welcome the things or people that hurt us rather than retreating or rejecting them.
We are called to be childlike in our faith—innocent, pure of heart, full of awe and wonder—to abandon the weariness, cynicism, and foolishness of adulthood. When we become like little children, we can appreciate the smallest joys and sorrows of life. To be childlike in our faith means we can set aside ourselves to make room for God.
My two-year-old daughter showed me how to kiss my cross with tender patience. How much we can learn from the little ones we are so eager to teach!
