Much Displeased

Mark recorded an encounter between Jesus and little children this way: “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13-16). I was struck by the phrase that Jesus “was much displeased” at the reaction of his disciples who sought to turn away the children. Surely His feelings towards us are similar if we likewise ignore or dismiss or push away children from us when we could instead show love towards them. We all too often feel that we don’t have time for children, and yet, as Elder Andersen quoted one mother saying, “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.” Surely the same is true of fatherhood and all relationships in which we have a responsibility towards children—God gave us time so that we could love and bless and teach children. Just as Jesus, we too should “[take] them in [our] arms… and bless them” every chance that we get.  

Elder Holland told this heartbreaking story about the suffering of children. He related, “While participating in the dedication of the Kansas City Missouri Temple just a few months ago, Sister Holland and I were hosted by Brother Isaac Freestone, a police officer by profession and a wonderful high priest in the Liberty Missouri Stake. In our conversations he told us that late one evening he was called to investigate a complaint in a particularly rough part of the city. Over the roar of loud music and with the smell of marijuana in the air, he found one woman and several men drinking and profaning, all of them apparently totally oblivious of the five little children—aged about two through eight years of age—huddled together in one room, trying to sleep on a filthy floor with no bed, no mattress, no pillows, no anything. Brother Freestone looked in the kitchen cupboards and in the refrigerator to see if he could find a single can or carton or box of food of any kind—but he literally could find nothing. He said the dog barking in the backyard had more food than those children did. In the mother’s bedroom he found a bare mattress, the only one in the house. He hunted until he found some sheets (if you could call them that), put them on the mattress, and tucked all five children into the makeshift bed. With tears in his eyes he then knelt down, offered a prayer to Heavenly Father for their protection, and said good night. As he arose and walked toward the door, one of the children, about age six, jumped out of bed, ran to him, grabbed him by the hand, and pled, ‘Will you please adopt me?’ With more tears in his eyes, he put the child back in bed.” Surely the statement that Jesus would be “much displeased” to witness such treatment of children would be a gross understatement. His words of warning about this kind of neglect towards children witness to the depth of His divine feelings: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). When we get to the other side for our personal interview with Him, there will surely be a lot of things from our life that we have cared about a great deal that He won’t even mention; but how we have treated little children undoubtedly will be a topic of discussion if we have not cared for them as we should have.

                Bishop Caussé questioned, “Have you ever asked yourself what it would be like if the Savior visited your ward or branch next Sunday? What would He do?” Here was his answer, “I wouldn’t be surprised if He visited the Primary children first. He would probably kneel down and speak to them eye to eye. He would express His love to them, tell them stories, congratulate them on their drawings, and testify of His Father in Heaven. His attitude would be simple, genuine, and without affectation. Can we do likewise?” Surely we can indeed do better to suffer the little children to come unto us, to take them in our arms, and love them as He did when He was on the earth. He always had time for the children when they were brought to Him, and it should be the same for us who seek to follow Him.