On the faith of children...

Right now for reasons many of you may know, my family are confronting the topic of infant baptism (and the baptism of toddlers for that matter). Plenty theological blood has been spilt over that topic in recent centuries, so my purpose here is emphatically not to mount a defense for one view against another. I only want to mention that the subject has me thinking generally on the question of the nature of faith. How much is rational? How much is implicit trust? In a recent reading about infant baptism at OrthodoxBridge.com (the site is linked to in the sidebar as well), the writer observes:

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Luke reports that when the Virgin Mary entered into Elizabeth’s home and greeted her that the baby inside Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:41, 44)  John the Baptist’s pre-natal response to the presence of the Incarnate Logos points to our desire for God in the primordial core of our being.  An infant may not have a fully developed intellect, but it possesses the ability to respond to love.  This is because the ability to love and respond in love is foundational to our humanity.  Faith as the ability to trust someone is critical to our being able to love another person.

The writer also notes Christ's words later in the 18th chapter of Luke's Gospel, "…anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." It's a rather profound exercise to evaluate the degree to which one's adult, unavoidably rational faith contains a healthy component of childlikeness (and not just component, but dare I say foundation?). 

I received some help yesterday in the form of a Facebook post from the wife of a recently deceased Orthodox priest.* Fr Matthew Baker, a 37-year-old with six children, a nearly finished Ph.D and his first (brand new) parish assignment in Connecticut was driving home from an evening prayer service with his six children in their van on March 2nd. It was snowing. Details of the accident aren't numerous. All that is known is that he lost control of the vehicle, was thrown from it, and the van rolled several times with his children still in it. Fr Matthew died, while his children were miraculously uninjured. A Gofundme page was created to help his wife (who'd recently endured the still birth of their 7th child) who is now faced with a new mortgage, six children and no income whatsoever. Occasionally the curator of the project will post updates about the family, some from Fr Matthew's wife personally. Here is the most recent, taken from her Facebook page:

Yesterday morning, early, I was working at the computer in my husband's office when I heard little feet running toward me. My four year old ran in the room and looked around and then looked at me, happy and expectant: "Did Daddy rise from the dead?" I responded as I have several mornings since the accident, "No, not today, but he will. It will seem to take a long time to us, but he will." Completely undaunted, he smiles and saunters out. I suddenly realize that each morning he has been looking for the resurrection of his father. The story of Christ's resurrection is so real to him, he sees it as something that could happen any day and probably in the morning. I suppose we could smile at his immaturity, but I wonder if that is not the better attitude to have. Maybe this is what Christ meant when he said that we must "become like a little child."

Lord have mercy! This is the faith I need. Indeed, it's the faith Christ requires. May we each become like little children unto the enlargement of God's Kingdom.



*It wasn't pertinent to this post, but I want to further note that Fr Matthew's untimely death carried a unique gravity, not just to his expansive family but to the Orthodox Church writ large. He was regarded by many familiar with his work as the foremost up-and-coming Orthodox scholar in two or three generations. The enormity of donations to date--mostly from people who never knew him--illustrates the ministerial reach he might have had. To elucidate this for my Evangelical friends, the perceived loss of his would-be contributions to Orthodox Christian thought and scholarship would be akin to someone like Francis Schaeffer being killed before having the chance to be published. If you're curious to learn more about Fr Matthew, here is a helpful In Memorium from writer, priest and close friend, Andrew Stephen Damick.