Children's Spirituality Summit 2024

In Luke 1:66 all who hear about John's birth wonder about him: "What then will this child become?" (cf. also Luke 1:14). This wondering is reminiscent to the perennial question adults wonder about children today: "What will this child become?" Or, phrased differently, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" In this paper, however, I argue that "becoming" for the gospel author is neither completed in adulthood--when one "grows up" (cf. Luke 22:26, "The greatest among you must become like the youngest"), defined by one's occupation/success, nor, more basically, about completion at all. Rather, as many have noted and Michelle Obama popularly points out in her autobiography by the same title, becoming is a life-long process of formation. Most significantly, for the Lukan evangelist, becoming is about a spiritual formation (Luke 1:14) that centers youth and service before experience and leadership (Luke 22:26). I therefore seek to explore the concept of becoming that Luke attaches to the child John as a model for uplifting and celebrating childhood especially as a time of becoming without imposing more adult-centric task oriented outcomes and goals, and rather, giving space to wonder and explore with children the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives in the present moment.