One of my favorite contemporary Orthodox Christian scholars is Fr. Stephen Freeman. I am amazed by his prodigious, profound, and loving thoughts and applications of faith. His observations apply well beyond the pale of Orthodoxy, too, IMHO.Here's an excerpt from this Oak Ridge, Tennessee, priest's blog, "Glory to God for all Things." The blog in its entirety (and it's worth the read) is about the soul, what it is (and it is, generally speaking, NOT what most of us in the West tend to think it is), and how it reveals the eternal best of us, when tended as a spiritual garden.
This sub-section that follows below, however, especially speaks eloquently about the innocence and unconscious wisdom (?) of a child:
Among the more interesting experiences for a priest is the confession of children. The one thing I am certain to avoid is trying to teach children about sin when it is not part of their conscious existence.
Convincing a child that there is an external parent (God) watching and judging their every thought and action is almost certain to create a certain distance from the soul itself. The question, “Am I ok?” is the language of shame, of broken communion, even communion with the soul.
But, having done this now for 40 years, I can say that I see a gradual awakening in each child, an awareness of broken communion. The role of a confessor is not to widen that gap, but to help a child learn how it is bridged in Christ.
I tell parents, “The only thing I want a child to know at first is the absolute certainty of God’s unchanging and unconditional love.”
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