Their angels always see the face of my Father


A bit of pious opinion.
But first, a story!

It was Thursday evening and we were in the living room watching TV when Lucas, my 9 year old nearly-nonverbal son with Down syndrome quickly turned to me as if prompted and said "Dad! DAD!  Gramma!"
"You want to call Gramma and Grampa?"
"Yes."
"Why don't we call them on the weekend? It's late, they're an hour ahead of us, so it's later there. Wait and we'll call them this weekend."
He sat back down on the couch and seemed to be Ok with that answer, but a few minutes later he sprang back up and said, kind of urgently, "DAD! Gramma!"

We were only watching TV, so I stopped the show we were watching and we got a phone which I dialed for him. They answered, and he babbled away to them about sundry things we couldn't really decipher. He, thinking ALL phones work like smart phones on video calls, walked around the house and pointed the cordless handset at the various Christmas decorations we have here and there.

After several minutes, I took the phone from him and talked to my parents. My dad, after I got on the line, said "Well, I shoulda called you sooner, but I'm going in to have a heart catheter done tomorrow morning."

This is where I'll end the story. I'll let you know that the procedure went well and my dad went home without complications, but that's not the point.

The point is that my son somehow knew it was important to call Gramma and Grampa, and because of his prompting, I was able to tell my dad I love him and then to pray for him and solicit the prayers of many others for him.

I don't believe in "coincidence."

I have a theory about children, especially tiny ones, but it also can extend to Lucas.  I have held this theory for many years, having 6 children and seeing a certain behavior in all of them. When they are tiny and unable to speak to us, I notice they look up a lot, at the ceiling, at the sky, and they babble and giggle and smile. What are they looking at? Why are they smiling and babbling?

I believe the very young and innocent babes see and talk with their Guardian Angel, and others who love them and reside in the unseen spiritual world around us. I think that between conception and some point in the process of cognitive development is a period of sweet communion with God and the angels, Saints and ancestors. They are allowed to see what we can't because they are simple, trusting, and innocent, which brings them so close to the kingdom of God that they, for a time, nearly bridge the space between here and there.

As they grow, and learn, their attention turns to the things of this world, and at some point they cross a line where reason and rationality and self-interest sever them from the presence of the Spiritual and they forget and become concerned only with the temporal. This is aided by adults, the media the kids consume, teachers, day cares, etc. etc. I can't say if the parting is a sweet farewell or a sad fading away, but at some point they become "too smart" to see, hear, or talk to angels.

In thinking about the combination of Lucas' urgent prompt to call my parents and this theory I have about children, a "spiritual meaning" of Scripture began to occur to me.

An aside: in the ancient Church there were two major schools of theology. The Antiochian School was primarily concerned with a more literal, typological understanding of the Scriptures. The Alexandrian School focused on allegorical or "spiritual meaning" of the Scripture.

Regarding a "spiritual meaning," this is not to say that Genesis is not a record of things that actually took place with real people in real time, but it is to say that there is an additional meaning that is not quite so clear on the face of the words.

Back to my thoughts: A spiritual meaning of early Genesis:
1 - Adam and Eve were created in innocence and purity, and God walked with them in the cool of the evening. Because of their unstained purity they enjoyed communion with God.
     Adam and Eve are the young children who, untainted by worldly matters, enjoy this special communion.

2 - Later, the serpent tricked Eve and she at of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and subsequently gave it to Adam who also ate. The communion with God was then severed.
     The serpent is still the serpent, but also represents the rest of the fallen world and its impact on the little ones, even those who love them most.
     Eating of the tree is the gaining of their own "knowledge of Good and Evil." Through the cares of the world and increasing knowledge/worldly wisdom, the little ones partake of the "fruit" and their communion is severed.

Like I said, this is my own pious opinion. You may have objections, which I might be able to address, or which might prove cogent arguments against something here, but in any case, I am not inclined to disbelieve that Lucas has a "hotline" of sorts into mysterious and spiritual things that comes directly from his relationship to God. A faith and love I hope to have in a fractional amount some day after much striving.

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