"A child shall lead them."
by William S. Stoertz
July 23, 1999

     On the way to the nursery the other day, 
Masha said, "Masha is Mama. Papa is boy."
     I said, "Okay, Mama." I'm getting used to 
her saying these things. They please me.
     I thought about how in the Bible (Isaiah) 
there is a prophecy about the coming Messiah 
where it says, "A child shall lead them."
     That would have been the right attitude 
for Jesus' parents, for the Jewish leaders, 
and for all Israel and the whole world to take 
when Jesus Christ was born.
     When Jesus was twelve, he went to the 
Temple and asked the high priests profound 
questions, and then, when they didn't know 
the answers, Jesus proceeded to tell them 
the answers -- he taught them. A boy was 
teaching the religious leaders! Then Jesus' 
parents, on the way home in the caravan, 
realized their son wasn't there, and went back,
and found him teaching in the Temple. Then 
"he submitted unto them" and they took him 
back home.
     Actually, Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, 
didn't take Jesus seriously as the Son of God, 
the Messiah, nor as a Prophet, a Teacher, nor 
a great Healer -- to say nothing of King! Though 
in fact they basically knew who he was -- that 
was no secret to them -- they didn't completely 
take that attitude. Rather they were annoyed 
by him and even ashamed of Him.
     What should their attitude toward their son 
have been? They should have thought of him 
and always treated him as the Holy of Holies 
-- as someone far more precious than 
themselves, as the gift of God to them and to 
all mankind. They should have consulted him 
and his conscience or intuition in everything 
even from the youngest age. Even when he 
was a baby, he was the most holy jewel, who 
sanctified everyone and everything around him.
     As soon as he was made known to the 
religious leaders (even to the magi, or the three 
wise men who attended Him at his birth), they 
should have recognized him as the child of 
prophecy, and the Son of God, the Savior of 
Mankind, the Prince of Heaven, and attended 
him in that way throughout their life and his 
life. They should have been waiting for him. 
Their were prophecies in Scripture about him, 
there were revelations to those immediately 
around him or preceding him, and there is a 
plain common sense, which humble and 
innocent people reflected or expressed toward 
him. We should be like that.
     Even though we are parents, teachers, 
leaders, wise, experienced and professional 
people, we should take this attitude toward a 
new and purer generation who will be coming 
up: We are shaded, jaundiced, jaded, wizened, 
cynical, impure. A generation is coming up 
after us which is pure, radiant, hopeful, innocent, 
spiritually and heartistically sensitive, and gifted 
with innate, heavenly wisdom.
     For me, that is Masha (my daughter Mariya 
Jeong-Ah Stoertz).
     Rev. Moon ("True Father") said, "Now the 
time has come, the time of reversal of all things. 
Now the children should become parents to 
their grandparents, the grandparents should 
become children to their grandchildren. Now 
east and west, left and right... -- all will be 
reversed. What has been high must become 
low, what has been low must become high. 
Now is the time of the upheaval or cosmic 
turnaround."
     Let us just say: Even though we may not 
like the messenger, we should anyway receive 
his message.
     There is another saying: "One who receives 
a messenger instead of responding to his 
message, is entitled to the Kingdom of Heaven."
     In any case, let us become the filial pious 
sons and daughters who can be entitled to the 
Kingdom of Heaven. All kinds of qualities are 
necessary and valuable to enter the heavenly 
kingdom, and the time is now.
     One quality we must have is to be willing 
to receive a command even from a child.
     Of course you have to make sure that what 
the child is saying (feeling, sensing, intuiting, 
etc.) is really right.
     In fact, a little while later, Masha was tired, 
and she said, "Pick me up, Daddy." Then she 
fell asleep sweetly in my arms and I took her 
the rest of the way home.
     I feel blessed by my daughter. Even though 
I know a lot more than her, and I have to watch 
for that she doesn't run out into the street or 
hang out the window too far, my life and my 
existence is sanctified or redeemed by her. 
Aren't we all saved by our children?