Last Friday a dear mentor-author (who I never met) passed away. Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel and The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, often captured the simplest truths of God in ways that often helped me murder my unhealthy opinions of myself and my God and discover what it meant to be loved by the persistent and captivating love of my Abba-Father. Today, we bring you some of his words, in hopes that you too will discover childlike faith and be loved. Simply loved.
There is a wondrous open-mindedness about children and an insatiable desire to learn from life. An open attitude is like an open door – a welcome disposition toward the fellow travelers who knock on our door during the middle of the day, the middle of the week, or the middle of a lifetime. Some are dirtballs, grungy, disheveled, and bedraggled. The sophisticated adult within me shudders and is reluctant to offer them hospitality. They may be carrying the precious gifts under their shabby rags, but I still prefer clean-shaven Christians who are neatly attired, properly pedigreed, and who affirm my vision, echo my thoughts, stroke me, and make me feel good. Yet my inner child protests, “I want new friends, not old mirrors.”
When our inner child is not nurtured and nourished, our minds gradually close to new ideas, unprofitable commitments, and the surprises of the Spirit. Evangelical faith is bartered for cozy, comfortable piety. A failure of nerve and an unwillingness to risk distorts God into a Bookkeeper and the gospel of grace is swapped for the security of religious bondage.
“Unless you become as little children …”
Heaven will be filled with five-year-olds.
– Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel.
To learn more about Brennan’s legacy, read this terrific article.
Not Just a Corner 