Adams and Eves

Watching my toddlers in their highchairs taught me that food is miraculous, its myriad colors and shapes, its glorious textures, an invitation to play. Squishing peas or squeezing fistfuls of mashed potatoes, my children were Adams and Eves discovering the wonder of creation for the first time, reaffirming the gift of this world and offering it back… and as I obeyed their infant commands to name the things of this world, the world became holy.
—Suzanne M. Wolfe, “This is My Body,” Image (Winter 2009), 82

How as adults do we discover the miraculous, the holy, especially when we don’t squish the peas anymore, when we don’t respond to the mashed potatoes’ invitation to play? I wonder how to reclaim our delight and surprise when everything around us was creative and new.

Perhaps there is a command in the play of toddlers and infants, an obligation, a moral imperative, for adults also to name the world. Isaiah was right. The way forward is found when “a little child shall lead them.” It is in the early naming of things, people, and relationships that we discover who we are, our roles and possibilities. We reaffirm the world. We offer it back… to whom? To one another, yes, but more. The world around us becomes holy when in our toddler-like discovery, we offer it back in wonder to God.

For a moment today, rediscover your inner Adam, your inner Eve. Discover a miracle. Give thanks.

Along the Way, I wish you God’s peace on today’s stage of your Lenten spiritual journey. May Christ’s companionship bless you with confidence for the day, comfort you in trouble, and put a spring of joy in your step.