Welcoming the child within us: Thoughts from Lacy Finn Borgo
Lacy Finn Borgo is an author and spiritual director, focused on the spiritual health and accompaniment with children. She joins Christos for a two-part online series in October and November 2024, Faith Like A Child: Becoming Like Children (part 1) and Listening to God with Children and Teens (part 2). Below are excerpts from her book of the same name, and information on how to register for this special event.
“Our welcomes are all connected: how we welcome our childhood selves is connected to how much we welcome the children in front of us, which is connected to how much we welcome the Christ child. And to welcome the Christ child is to welcome humanity itself. Children are the most present, most authentic and most connected with the least effort and intention.
The incarnation is the foundation for the holy act of becoming human. Jesus’ life showed us that each developmental stage can be a place of holy delight. He was a child who did childlike and childish things. In him was the delight, awe and wonder of discovery … He encountered the same fears and worries and existential questions that we do.” - Faith Like a Child, p. 2
“As we welcome our own childhood selves, we welcome the humanity of Jesus. And in that welcoming, we find a companion for life.”
“Children possess a natural, unique to them, connective consciousness. It has not been chosen or even cultivated through hours of meditation or psychedelic trips. Instead, the plasticity of the developing brain offers connective wonder through a lack of previous experiences and an innocent openness to the world. God has wired each and every one of us for this …”
“Beyond their lack of concern over power, beyond their born state of humility, children possess a contemplative posture all their own. The contemplation of these mini-mystics, a term I like to use to describe children and their natural connection to God, includes a wonder-filled receptivity to whatever is before them.”
“They exist in a perpetual state of awe, expanding their minds, bodies and spirits for wide-open engagement.”
“Jesus too was a child who lived from the wisdom of childhood, but even as an adult knew how to perpetually re-member. Jesus is both older than time itself and younger than a heartbeat of the present.” - p. 10
Lacy Finn Borgo, DMin, is a member of the Renovaré Ministry Team. She teaches, provides spiritual direction and is the Student Care Coordinator for the Renovaré Institute for Spiritual Formation. Lacy also teaches courses on Spiritual Accompaniment with Children through the CompanioningCenter.org. She has a spiritual direction ministry for adults, and provides spiritual direction for children at Haven House, a transitional facility for families without housing. Her recent books are Faith Like a Child: Embracing Our Lives as Children of God, Spiritual Conversations with Children: Listening to God Together and the children’s picture book All Will Be Well. Lacy lives on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains and worships with a local Quaker Meeting. You can find her at www.GoodDirtMinistries.org
