A Sheep in Sheep’s Clothing

Sadie proudly pulled out of her school bag the gifts she had made for her dad on Father’s Day. There were a lot of them. She quietly sorted them out so that she could display them properly. I got a chance to see the gifts and, as always, I was quite moved by them. She put so much effort into hers. At the end, she looked at one last gift, sitting on the side table where she’d sorted them all out. After some thought she brought it over. It was a picture of a sheep. A one eyed sheep. It had the words Jesus Love’s Us Always and Jesus is always in our hearts. She explained to me that when she made it, she had glued on two eyes.

She became a little upset when this happened, she said, and almost threw the artwork out. I asked her why she didn’t. I know Sadie and she is very serious about her work and wants it to be just right. I was curious as to her reasoning.

“Well,” she explained, “It’s okay for a sheep to have one eye. It’s still a sheep. It would be fair to throw a sheep away or hurt a sheep just because it had only one eye, would it?” I agreed that it wouldn’t.

I asked her if Jesus would love a sheep just with one eye, or would the sheep have to have two eyes to be loved.

That I was told, was a silly question.

And she refused to answer it.

Because it was silly.

It should be a silly question shouldn’t it? The answer is obvious to a seven year old girl. We are loved, perfect or not, and we are worthy of being kept and loved. We should expect kindness, different or not, and we are worthy enough to be seen has a gift. We should not be thrown away, two eyes or one, and we are worthy of welcome and belonging.

People will say, I know, that children can be wise, and of course they are. But worries me that is that the wisdom of children is seen as more cute than wise. What worries me is that we listen and smile at the words rather than being moved into action by the words.

Sadie’s view of the value of everyone is a direct challenge to all of us, who find her words wise, to demonstrate that every day.

Every. Day.