Part Two

Yesterday's blog was about "The Little Match Girl," the story by Hans Christian Andersen.  There is something rather profound that I missed.

Andersen went where few authors had gone -- writing for children.  He inspired later works by A.A. Milne and Kenneth Grahame (Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows).  Andersen's own works stressed perseverance in strife and other character qualities that are treasured but not necessarily common today.

When Jesus walked the earth, he especially reached out to children.  His disciples at one point tried to get him to move on so that they might continue their work, but Jesus chastised them a bit, telling them that the Kingdom of God is made of such as these.

During Jesus' time, children were chattel.  They were bought and sold by the Romans, and were given little credence.  Jesus elevated the status of children and showed his great love for them.  This was yet another piece of gravel under the Romans' feet, for they viewed Jesus as a threat in many different ways. 

Andersen's stories for children, especially those that tell the plight of the poor and neglected, stand as testimony that children matter, that their feelings matter, and that their lives matter.  Andersen's own life was hardly cushy.  He was born to poorer folk, and after his father's death, his mother supported them by being a washerwoman.  He'd started out as a singer but lost the position when his voice changed.  Someone at the theater said that he was a poet.  Andersen took that comment to heart and pursued his writing until his death.  Through the generosity of a rich man, Andersen was able to attend grammar school but he himself was often badly treated and suffered beatings. 

Andersen captured something that it has taken many years to understand -- children are the least like us physically but the most like us emotionally.  And yet we often do things absolutely backwards.

My favorite statue regarding Andersen is in the Copenhagen harbor -- the Little Mermaid.  Check it out online.