Reenchantment and Childlike Faith

(Reflections on C.S. Lewis’ Four Stages of Enchantment & Childlike faith in Matthew 18:1–4)

In his essay Talking About Bicycles, C.S. Lewis describes four stages of experience—Unenchantment, Enchantment, Disenchantment, and Reenchantment. He uses the simple act of learning to ride a bicycle as an image of how we come to love something, lose that love through familiarity or fatigue, and then rediscover its beauty through gratitude.

At first, the child is unenchanted—the bicycle means nothing. Then comes enchantment—the thrilling joy of motion, the wind in one’s face, the discovery of freedom. But in time, disenchantment creeps in. The shine wears off, the thrill becomes routine, and cynicism sets in. Yet for the one who perseveres, there is a fourth stage—reenchantment—a renewed joy, not born of ignorance but of understanding. Lewis writes that the re-enchanted person “has recovered the old delight in things, but with added knowledge.” This joy is not naïve; it is gratitude reborn through experience.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:1–4 echo this very mystery: “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

To “become like a child” is not to regress into simplicity or sentimentality. It is to recover wonder after wisdom—to regain the capacity for awe once dulled by self-importance. Lewis’ reenchantment mirrors this invitation. Childlike faith is not childish belief; it is faith reborn after disappointment, humility rediscovered after striving, and joy rediscovered after our attempts to control have failed. It is the faith of one who has seen the world’s pain and yet still believes that grace is real.

Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith

The Apostle Paul helps us draw the distinction in 1 Corinthians 13:10–11: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

Paul is not telling us to abandon wonder but to grow out of self-centered immaturity. Just one verse earlier, he writes, “When completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” In other words, childish faith clings to what serves itself; mature faith learns to see beyond itself.

The primary mark of childishness is the demand that “I come first.”

It is the inward cry of the ego that wants God, people, and the world to orbit around its own needs and moods. It is impatient when God seems silent, defensive when others challenge us, and quick to say, “That’s not fair!” Childish faith is a closed fist—it clings, it grasps, it insists.

By contrast, childlikeness is open-handed. Its defining traits are awe, joy, and trust. The childlike heart marvels easily—it laughs freely, receives gratefully, and trusts naturally. It is humble enough to depend on the Father, content to live within mystery, and joyful even in small things. The childlike soul prays with sincerity, “Father, I don’t have to understand to believe.”

The childish heart demands, “I must see to believe.”

The childlike heart whispers, “I believe, and therefore I see.”

Far too often, we grow out of childlikeness while never quite outgrowing childishness. We lose our sense of awe but keep our self-centeredness. We shed wonder and keep pride. Yet reenchantment happens when childishness is crucified and childlikeness is resurrected—when the “me-first” heart is transformed into one that says, “Thy will be done.” This is the mature faith that has put away spiritual immaturity without losing spiritual wonder—the ability to grow up without growing cold.

Seeing by the Light

Reenchantment is the Spirit’s gentle work of sanctified imagination—opening our eyes to see the ordinary world as charged with God’s glory. Morning light through a window, the laughter of a child, the bread and cup at the table—each becomes luminous again.

It is a way of seeing that transforms not the things themselves, but us. The same world that once felt dull or mechanical becomes radiant with meaning because our vision has been healed. The re-enchanted heart recognizes that beauty, truth, and goodness are not fleeting illusions but reflections of the eternal. What once seemed ordinary now becomes sacramental—a window through which we glimpse the love of God.

As Lewis once wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen—not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

To live by that Light is to walk with gratitude and wonder—to see creation as gift, life as grace, and Christ as the center of it all. The re-enchanted heart no longer says, “Look at me,” but “Look at Him.” It is faith that not only believes in the light but learns to see all of life through it.

Reflection

Where in your life have you moved from enchantment to disenchantment—and what might God be inviting you to rediscover with new eyes?

In what ways have you confused childishness with childlikeness in your spiritual life?

Where have you allowed “me first” attitudes to eclipse awe, joy, and trust?

What ordinary moments or places has God used lately to reawaken your sense of His presence?

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Teach me to see again.

Strip away the cynicism and self-sufficiency that have dulled my wonder.

Deliver me from childishness—the selfish spirit that always says “me first.”

Restore to me a childlike heart—humble, joyful, and full of trust.

Give me eyes that marvel, a spirit that rests,

and a faith that sees everything by Your light.

Amen.