Suffer little children

This morning as we made breakfast, packed lunches, and got our little ones dressed, my wife and I talked about the policy change, the reactions of friends and family, and the national news coverage. My twelve year old overheard me say “this is really bad,” and asked what it was that was bad. I choked and walked around picking up socks and packing the lunches, even after he asked two more times. If I tried to speak I would have cried. My wife saved me and I walked into the bathroom and just wept.

I have been working on a chapter about baby blessings and the sources are fresh on my mind.

“In some minds there seems to be an idea that there should be a different form of blessing for children born of non-members and for those who are identified with the Church; and it is from such sources that in the case of children belonging to members of the Church ‘the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ and all the attendant favors are frequently conferred upon the child. This is all wrong. If we take the example of our Lord and Redeemer, who is our pattern and whose example we cannot too closely follow, we find that He blessed all who were brought to Him. We have no hint that He asked whose children they were, or the standing or faith of their parents. His remark was, ‘Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven;’ and He laid His hands upon them and blessed them. All little children, no matter what their parentage may be, are innocent in the sight of heaven, and they should be received as such and blessed as such.”

The Editor [George Q. Cannon], “Topics of the Times,” Juvenile Instructor 34 (March 1, 1899): 137-138. Reprinted in Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star 61 (March 30, 1899), 198-199; Latter-day Saints’ Southern Star 1 (April 29, 1899): 170.