Last night I heard that two-year-old Ava sang “Away in a Danger” instead of Away in a Manger. She might have a point about that song being a little dangerous, as it’s just not right to say that Jesus was a “no-crying-he-made” kind of baby. Where does the Bible say that? It’s funny how kids change the words to some songs.

Greg admits to singing To God Be the Glory a little creatively as a youngster: “I used to think we were singing about ‘Great Thingsy,’ and I always wondered who Great Thingsy was and why we were singing about what he has done.”

I do this same sort of thing with certain Bible verses. When Jesus said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me,” (Matthew 25:40) I have this picture of Mother Theresa in my mind’s eye petting a scraggly orphan on the head, rocking a sleeping baby, or pouring water into a little glass in an orderly kitchen with a serene look on her face. Matronly and 50’s-style Leave It to Beaver fashion. The act of accepting one of the “least of these” in Jesus’ name always evokes this tranquil sort of image and application in my mind.

Even those Sunday School flannelgraph pictures reinforce this notion. You know, the one of the long-haired, fair-skinned Jesus surrounded by smiling children who don’t interrupt His Bible story by tattling, throwing up, or loosing a tooth.

Accepting the “least of these” looks like cuddling a cooing baby that looks like this:

Charles Liam

Not this:

Mad mad mad

Like so many things, God always means something greater and bigger than what we first imagine. While I wait and pray for a no-crying-he-makes kind of baby, I don’t hold my breath. Statistically with five now, I figure it’s about my turn for one of these “easy” babies. In the meantime, though, God gets the glory, the attention, the supplication from one of His weak servants. Truly, great thingsy has done.