Where a child shall lead them

When John and I set out on our little pilgrimage to Wittenberg, we decided to stop in Berlin for the better part of the day on our way back. And we made a deal. Since Wittenberg is where I wanted to go, and pretty much all of the sights had been chosen by me, he could plan the Berlin part of the trip. He had already been for the weekend with his mom, but this time would just be the two of us. I said I wanted to see the wall, but when and how that happened was up to him. And anything else - his choice. I couldn't have made a better deal if I tried! He was a wonderful tour guide. He knew the train stations and the subway in the city. I saw a Berlin I would never have seen of it wasn't for John. To start off we went to the technology museum. Certainly not something that would have ever made my list. But it made his. And we had a blast. We learned a lot, spent a ton of time in the history of the sea and the sky, so boats and planes (he is a nine year old boy after all). And we talked about inventors and their inventions. What drives people to try new things. To risk a lot. To dream bigger, to imagine what and where we can go next, and then to try to make it happen.

After the museum we went on a bus tour of the city. One of those ones were you can sit on the upper deck. It was a great way to see Berlin. We passed a lot of the sights, had the chance to learn as we did so, and got to relax a bit! It was fabulous. Finished off the day at the Brandenburger Gate and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews. And just when I thought he couldn't teach me much more, he reminded me that after being in that space, even for a couple of minutes, your soul needs ice cream, and an impromptu game of tag and chase the pigeons. It was restorative.

I learned a lot on Friday, from God, tour guides, and brochures. But mostly I learned from John. He reminded me of the importance of balance. Do some very touristy things, and also see the local favourite field trip location. Use public transit. Do some activities simply for fun, and some where you're learning and experiencing the history. He reminded me, that even as I'm studying the history and feeling a city, it's important to see where a city is going and not just its past. He reminded me to have fun and laugh. That its okay to not be serious all the time. That ice cream really does make you feel better. And all this had me thinking about how Jesus came as a baby. He entered the world as a child. He saw the world as a child. And then he told us to do the same. But do we? As a church do we listen to our kids? Are we paying any attention to them and what they really think! How they really see the world? What are they trying to teach us, that we are completely missing, because we are sure as adults we should be leading the way. It wasn't Berlin as I would have chosen to see it. Thank God. Wg