A Sunday Like No Other

On this Sunday morning I am headed to Liturgy at St. Ignatius. I have participated in the Liturgy many times but today is special. Nathan and Lily are here-my grandchildren. Nathan is 4 and Lily is 2. Of course their mommy and daddy are here as well, but they don't get much attention anymore. There are priorities, you know. My daughter and son-in-law gave us the privilege of keeping their children for a few days while they went on a much needed vacation as a couple. One of the days was just a grandpa-Nathan-Lily day. We went for a walk and went to the candy store as is obligatory, but the most special time was saying morning prayers with them. They took so quickly to the candles, incense, and veneration of the icons. The incorporation of the senses in worship is so easily grasped by children. It is we adults who must shake our cultural religious norms on the Journey to Orthodoxy. It was inspiring to watch them cross themselves, touch the ground at the altar and kiss the icons. We had morning prayers just once, but when Mom and Dad came home, Nathan and Lily remembered how to do it and took exception with the fact that they had not yet venerated the icons. Oh, for a childlike approach. Isn't that what Jesus the Christ advocated, "Except you come as little children..."? We all get to go to "big church" together in the Orthodox faith. There is no little church. The children are part of the whole from birth. "Permit the little children to come to me and forbid them not.." Life is good.