“Here is something to do for the little kids in your life. When you are saying goodbye, make a special moment of showing them that you are tying something to their wrist. Tell them it is a heart string. You can’t see it, but if you close your eyes you will know it is there. It will stay on their wrist wherever they go so your love will always be with them. And not to worry, it is magic string, so it will never get tangled, never knock anything over, and never break. It will just keep you connected in your hearts so your love for one another will always be there.” —Bishop Steven Charleston, Daily Facebook page.
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Several of our recent Sunday Scripture readings have been about little children and entering the kingdom of God. Jesus tells us in Mark (10:2-26), Luke (18:15-17), and Matthew (19:14), that we must enter the kingdom by receiving it like little children.
Bishop Charleston’s heart string message to children not only reminds us how we stay connected to those we love, but how God stays connected to us. The God string is always there even if we cannot feel it. At times it feels like a thick rope, and at other times like the thinnest of sewing threads. Sometimes we feel so close to God that we could reach out and touch the Holy One; and sometimes our God seems nowhere to be found.
Almost always we can feel our God connection when we go outside and realize there is something, some power much greater than we can imagine. We still may not believe that this power affirms us or cares about us until a call, a visit, a note from someone else brings God’s love to us. Sometimes that person tells us he or she is praying for us, and we indeed feel those prayers. Then we in time again feel God’s love and can only respond by returning that love to another as it was given to us.
Joanna joannaseibert.com
