Categories: spirituality
Date: 10 July 2006 16:49:54
As many readers will know or will have gathered, I work with children. I love working with children and one of the things I love most about children is the way they naturally express their view of the world. They very often, just say what they are thinking, without any worries of what people might think. Some of the things they will say to you, are just classics! A few years ago I used to keep a quote book of funny things that children that i knew, had said to me. Unfortunately I've not kept up with it, but whenever I dig it out, I always have a good laugh! Quite often, although amusing, they can also have a very serious and deeper meaning, which is what makes children so magical and insightful.
One clear example I can think of, is something I said to my Dad when I was about 6. I toddled up to him, and said something along the lines of 'Dad, in school I was told that the dinosaurs existed a long, long time ago, before humans were around. And in Sunday school, I was told that God made the earth in 7 days. So, where do the dinosaurs fit into the creation story?' My dad smiled to himself, and said that I should ask X. X is a senior professor in old testement theology at a major university, and a good friend of the family. The next time I saw X, I went up to him and repeated the question. He did his best to explain to a naive 6 year old, that not everything is as simple as it might initially seem, and that lots of people believe lots of different things.
Looking back on that incident, I think it was a very insightful observation to make. I had no idea at the time that I had asked such a controversal question. I expected my Dad to give me a straight forward, black and white answer. Like, the dinosaurs were only on the earth for a few days before the humans came. Or they were on different parts of the earth, so they never actually met each other. I dunno, I had a creative mind.
Since then, obviously, I have established my own opinions about the creation story and evolution. But the purpose of this post was not to share them with you. I just wanted to demonstrate the inquistiveness of children's naive minds. And how they, especially at that age, believe everything they are told. It really is something special, and it should be valued.