The nature of spirituality

Martyn Payne

First, let us consider the whole area of 'innate spirituality'. All those who work with children will tell you of the incredible insights and flashes of understanding that come ‘out of the mouths of babes and infants’. So often they can see things clearly that for adults have become blurred and smudged by the cynicisms of life and over-familiarity. Jesus reminds us of this when he thanks God that his little ones know things that are hidden from the wise and understanding. Children are not empty spiritual vessels into which we pour our adult understandings. It is clear that God is already working in these young lives and that we have much to learn from them. This turns everything upside down and, if we dare to recognize it and give it a priority, it can turn the church into a revolutionary community where the voice and the presence of the child is as valued as any other. And indeed, if there is clearly an innate spirituality in children, what does that have to say about the spirituality of the people we meet and who we might regard as outside the church? Surely it means that they, too, are not empty vessels. So it is that our experience as children's leaders has a lot to offer the church as it seeks to share its story effectively with a post-Christian world. Like the children, many out there already know what they cannot name and this can radically alter the way we speak to them about faith and the things of God.

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