It is often suggested that some of the great, bigger saints were far from simplicity and childlikeness. This just isn’t true. Take, for example, the saint whose feast day it is today: Teresa. In her Meditations on the Song of Songs, she says,

It is very important to always have a conscience so pure that nothing hinders you from asking our Lord for the perfect friendship the bride [in the Song] asks for.

This is not only down-to-earth and encouraging, it’s simple and childlike.

Nothing is so detrimental as to be complicated before Jesus, and nothing makes us more complicated than a divided conscience. A clear, pure conscience, like a little child talking to his or her parents in total confidence, will make a great difference: “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God” (1 Jn 3:21).