The Child as Sacred Other

Rabia saw the Divine presence everywhere and in everyone. This radical perspective—that the sacred permeates all existence—offers profound re-orientation to how we regard children. Too often, even in progressive education, children are viewed as projects to be improved, potential to be developed, or future adults to be prepared. Rabia's mysticism suggests instead that each child is already sacred, already whole, already worthy of complete reverence. This doesn't mean abandoning guidance but rather shifting its foundation. The educator's work becomes less about shaping and more about honoring and protecting the child's unfolding. Montessori's 'absorbent mind' and Waldorf's 'developmental stages' both implicitly honor the child's intrinsic wisdom. Yet explicitly adopting Rabia's reverent stance intensifies this. It means approaching each observation, each interaction, each conflict with the question: 'What is sacred here? What does this child need to feel genuinely honored?' This concept invites educators to examine whether their practices truly honor children's dignity or subtly diminish it. When children experience being treated as sacred others, their entire relationship to learning, to themselves, and to community transforms toward wholeness.