Yesterday, I wrote that my new grandson has taught me much about God and humankind. Being able to watch a two and half year old through a grandfather's eyes enables one to see the truths of faith much clearer.

Those of you with grandchildren will know what I mean when I say that the antics of a such a child are charming and adorable, even when mom and dad feel otherwise. My grandson never walks – he is always in a cross between a trot and a run – as he moves from experience to experience, enjoying whatever happens to be in his path, be it a new object or a grandmother's smile and hug. He expects me to "shave" him when he sees me shaving. He doesn't see or understand the reason for the handrail on the stairs. I could go on and on. It is this carefree attitude that I find delightful and something to be cherished.

We adults on the other hand become circumspect and deliberate at some point as carefreeness gives way to caution and carefulness. It is, of course, prudent to be circumspect in this world we live in, but I can't help imagine, as I watch my grandchild, how wonderful it would be if we could recapture some of that exuberant carefreeness, knowing that God will strengthen us and help us and uphold us with a victorious right hand.

Prayer: O God, we thank You that you give us Your gift of strength and Your supporting hands. We ask that we be freed from the those things that cause us to lose our carefree delight in You and in the sacredness of Your creation. Amen.

Yesterday, I wrote about the overwhelming joy and gladness I experienced when my grandson was born. In the short (two plus) years of his life he has taught me much about God and humankind. The most common metaphor in scripture about God is the relationship of a loving parent to children. The entry of a small baby into the life and heart of someone who is my age reinforces that metaphor in a most powerful way.

It was a Saturday afternoon in the spring of 1996 and mom and grandma had gone shopping leaving the baby with "gumpa." I was planning to watch the Expos on TV and so I changed the diaper and carefully laid the boy down on the couch beside me for his afternoon nap. It wasn't long before he got restless and so I picked him up and laid him with his head on my shoulder and he snuggled himself as tightly as he could under my chin. It wasn't long before he was completely calmed down and sleeping and I had turned off the TV to experience this wonderful closeness without distraction.

What a vivid demonstration of the peace that we experience if we rest in the arms of God. I wonder when it is in life that we lose that sense of complete trust in God that provides the kind of security that gives us peace to the extent that restlessness ceases and refreshment comes. We all lose that trust somehow in the trials of life and yet God's promise and God's yearning for the experience remains – if we would only appropriate it.

Prayer: O God, Parent of us all, we give you thanks that you calm and restore us, as the fruits of Your love, when we trust you. May everyone seek the peace of being held tightly in Your loving arms. Amen.

There are literally hundreds of books around our house. There are so many that we will not read them all in our lifetime, yet sometimes I scan the titles and I am somehow transported to thoughts and recollections that uplift and teach. One such title is "Reasons to be Glad."

I recalled the morning our only (as yet) grandchild was born. It was August of 1995 and my wife had spent several hours with our daughter as part of the delivery team. When she came to advise the rest of us her face was positively glowing in marvel at the miracle. Thirty minutes later I was gazing into the face of that tiny baby, just barely seeing him through my tears of gladness – a kind of overwhelming joy, different than when my three children were born.

God has arranged us in families and that allows all of us the opportunity to bestow balance to our children as they have their children. The magic is that we can receive grandchildren with pure joy and without that sense of concern that comes from many sources and for many reasons with which we receive our own children. We are able to give our children a perspective that offsets concerns about parenting abilities and the negative nurturing of the world.

I believe that God, as parent of us all, rejoices in much the same way and for much the same reason when a child is born.

Prayer: Creator God, I thank you that you have arranged us in families. It is my prayer that parents and grandparents receive the gift of children with joy and gladness in their hearts and that those children will see You in those who raise them. Amen.