If you ever want learn about love, patience and understanding, spend some time with a five and a half year old boy. You will learn about all of these, plus you will learn how to complete a thought without having to complete a sentence!
For example, last week my family hiked in Yosemite National Park, one of America's great natural treasures. We got to see an interesting phenomenon that only occurs during the spring and usually only in the mornings. Since the air is warm and the ground is still frozen, the morning dew freezes into to tiny vertical shards on the ground. Free standing and in countless thousands, they look like thousands of tiny translucent crystals growing out of a green earth that steams in the morning light. Just as I was thinking of how to explain ice crystal formation, micro-climates and relative temperature, I saw my son in mid air, jumping on the ice and smashing it into ice dust and mud.
He immediately saw my face and he hung his head, and he said, "sorry daddy, I just wanted to free the tadpoles." (He's convinced every body of water contains tadpoles, by the way.)
Instead of being angry, I knelt down and said," I bet they like being free." and then he was off, heading to the next ice formation. I shook my head and thought,"he must be part Dingo".
My teaching moment was over and my learning moment was about to begin. Then another thought came into my head, more of a riddle than a thought, really. How is God like my 5 and a half year old? Sounds irreverent doesn't it? It did to me anyway but I let my mind wander as much as my I let my son wander ahead of me. Here's what I learned.
When my son asks me tough questions, like "Why are people hungry? I try to explain about supply chains, wars, and resource management, he doesn't seem to be convinced. When God asks me the same exact question, I use the same excuses, and He doesn't seem convinced.
When I ask him for whom should we pray, he lists Christians and non-Christians, dogs too. People he just met, people who just seem sad. The list is so long, we often forget to what we're praying for. Seems like God will know about that part. We just need to remember them.
When he once asked me if I want to be a superhero, I replied "sure pal, everybody did when they were kids, but I'm too old for that." He replied, "its not too late, you know." When God asks me if I ever wanted to change the world, I reply "sure, everybody does, but I'm too old for that." Well you can imagine what He says about that.
My life was orderly, safe and comfortable. Perhaps cold and a bit embedded too much in a sleeping state of detachment, like those ice formations. Then, at the age of 38, God came crashing down on me and made a wonderful mess of my worldview. And when he saw my face, He said, "sorry, I just wanted to free your soul."
I learned to see my son as he truly is: a whole creation of God made in the imago dei the image of God. I learned to see the spark of Divinity that burns deep within him. And I worshiped the God who resides in, around and about him.
Now you may not be lucky enough to have a 5 and half year old around you, but you may have a 15 y/o, a 25 y/o or an 85 y/o around you. It works just the same. Spend some time with them and look, listen and feel with your heart and I'm pretty sure you will find a spark of Divinity in them too. A spark that remembers the moment they were created and blessed and sent into the world. (Now you might have to work harder than I did, especially with the 15 y/o, but I promise you will find it.)
Just imagine if you saw that same spark in everyone, every creature, everyday. You just might find the spark that burns deep inside of you. A spark that yearns to be kindled and burnished and given as a gift unto the Lord. And when that happens, stand back! You know what happens to sparks: they start fires. Fires that light and warm all around them. Fires that consume and transform everything around them.
Worship the God that resides in, around and among the people God has put into your life and you will begin to see the world as Jesus. You will learn about patience, love and understanding.
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