In this world, there is a natural hierarchy we all recognize: the big over the small, the old before the young, and the wise before the ignorant (though the ignorant are often unaware of the gap).
However, there exists a deeper, spiritual hierarchy—an inner order where authority comes from a connection to what is right, to wisdom, or to a higher power. Children often possess this connection naturally. One is truly wise if they have developed the sensitivity to recognize when a child is speaking from that place of truth. It is vital to listen to children when they act or speak from this inner clarity, as they do so more often than we think. When we use the materialistic hierarchy selfishly to override the spiritual authority coming through them, we suppress their light. This is a serious matter; by acting in such a way, we tarnish the lens through which they look into life, ultimately diminishing them.
It is far better to break in pain, to cry, or to bear the discomfort of seeing that we are wrong. That discomfort is a corrective measure—the very thing that makes us right again.