Jesus must have constantly surprised His followers went it comes to the people with whom He would associate. He hung out with wine drinkers, prostitutes, tax collectors and other low lives. He was willing to be alone with women and to engage in discussions with them. He didn't seem to mind if those who approached Him weren't Jewish, and helped even the hated Romans. Today's reading (Mk 10: 13- 16) is another situation which must have caused the disciples to scratch their heads. Little children weren't particularly valued or tolerated by unrelated adults in Jewish society. When I was a kid the expression for kids was that they should be "seen and not heard." I think in Jesus time is was more "neither seen nor heard." So the disciples assume that Jesus won't want to be bothered with the kids, and He susprises them by not only tolerating the little children but by embracing them and blessing them. Pretty radical stuff, but we've learned that is often how Jesus rolls. Then, like any good teacher, Jesus takes the situation where He has the disciples' attention, and uses it as a teaching moment. You must be like them, He says, is you want to enter the Kingdom of God. You must "accept the Kingdom of God like a child" or you will not enter it. (Mk 10:15) So what is He telling us? What is the most important and obvious characteristic of a child? Perhaps it is their absolute dependence. A child is completely dependent on adults for everything-- food, clothing, shelter, you name it. Without a caring adult a child cannot possibly survive. Jesus tells us to call God "our Father." He wants us to think of God as someone who lovingly provides for us. And the corrolary to that is that we understand that we're like children, relying on God for everything, including our very existence. We adults often lose the ability to think of God in that way. We're used to providing for ourselves. But that sort of earthly provision is just an illusion. All we have and are truly comes from God. Perhaps that is the point Jesus wants us to recall today.