"I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content." (Psalm 131:2)
Psalm 131, one of the shortest in the Psalter, is a masterpiece of spiritual simplicity. In three verses, attributed to David, it describes the soul that has arrived at the peace of childlike trust. My heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. The weaned child is the key image: not the nursing infant who is attached to the breast for nourishment, but the older child who no longer needs that attachment and simply rests in the mother's arms because she is the mother.
The Catechism describes this quality of soul as the fruit of the theological virtue of hope: a hope that is not anxious about outcomes because it is anchored in God himself rather than in the goods God gives (CCC 1820). St. Therese of Lisieux called this the little way: the spirituality of the child who has nothing to offer but its smallness and who rests in the arms of God without needing to understand or control anything. The psalm closes with a communal application: Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore. The personal peace of the individual soul becomes the pattern for the whole community.
Brothers and sisters, are you occupied with things too great and marvellous for you? Are you trying to understand and control what is beyond you? The invitation of Psalm 131 is to put it down. Calm and quiet your soul. Climb into the arms of the Father and simply be there, not demanding anything, not solving anything. Like a weaned child. Content.
Lord God, calm and quiet my soul. I do not need to occupy myself with what is too great for me. Teach me the rest of the weaned child who is content in the mother's arms. And let Israel, and let me, hope in you both now and forevermore. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.