fleeting innocence

I watched Finding Neverland the other night and throughout the entire movie I was reminded of the wild imagination I had as a kid. When I was young, I would dream up all kinds of crazy adventures, and often times, with friends, pretend or “imagine” them. We would go to space, visit the old Wild West, and pretend we were in distant lands. We always found ourselves on a great adventure, solving mysteries and becoming heroes. I remember telling myself “when I grow up I want to visit the farthest reaches of the earth.” I had grand adventures planned for my adulthood; I wanted to experience everything good life had to offer. Sufficed to say, I still have the “wild” spirit somewhere deep (or not so deep) inside of me, but I’m afraid the cares of everyday life have weighed me down. In many ways I have lost my unwavering reckless abandonment for adventure that was once embodied in my childhood imagination.

During the Thanksgiving holiday I visited family in California, and to my surprise, I observed how both my cousins have nearly all but lost their childhood innocence. They’ve taken up smoking, work at dead-end jobs (with no plans to go to college), and, from what it seems, engaged in unhealthy relationships. It was no less than a year a go that they had high hopes of going to college, becoming engineers, and living out their childhood dreams; they appeared to be destined for great things. To be honest, my heart really does break for them. It would seem that they are yet another shocking product or our society. I’ve been asking myself the question “why is our childhood innocence, our unharnessed dreams and ambitions, so easily stripped away?” Lets face it, you never hear a child say “I want to be a stripper when I grow up.”

So how can we return to innocence, distance ourselves from the world and regain childhood inexperience? Most would say it’s impossible, but Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:2-7 lead me to a different conclusion:

Matthew 18:2-7 (NASB) And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”

So what does it mean to become like a child? Is Jesus asking us to become innocent and inexperienced? Unfortunately, all of the conjuring (or perhaps head-banging) in the world can not remove experiences from memory, but we can cast our cares upon him (1 Peter 5:6-7) and by doing so render ourselves unaffected by the world, lacking worldly experience, and becoming completely helplessness.

The one thing I miss most about being a child is the “care free” attitude I had. There was nothing to worry about; no money, cars, wife, job etc. I was free, I could imagine anything, play anything, laugh at anything; within reason I could do whatever I wanted. But at the very same time I was completely helpless; I relied on my parents for everything. Christ, in the same way, is asking us to take on child-like helplessness and become totally reliant on Him. By relying on Christ for everything and giving Him control of our jobs situations, relationships and money, we’re freed up; we’re not the boss, he is! Jesus exhorts us in this way:

Luke 12:23-34 (NASB) “For life is more than food, and the body than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; and they have no storeroom nor barn; and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters? Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith! And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Life in Christ frees us to dream, to experience, to run with reckless child-like abandonment! This is my prayer: “Oh God, give me the strength to lay all of cares upon you, to rely totally on you. Give me the grace to dream before you, the endurance to run after you, the compassion to serve you, and the love to encourage others to draw close to you. Plant your word in my heart and your vision in my mind. I love you Lord and I thank you for all the blessings you have given me. Continue your work in me, that my life might resemble child-like reliance on you.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 30th, 2005 at 8:13 pm and is filed under Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.