"She took refuge on the firm ground of fiction, through which indeed there curled the blue river of truth". - Henry James, What Maisie Knew
If you know me well enough, you might
have picked up on the fact that I love children; however, I really did not know the extent of my passion for kids until I got to YWAM. Getting to go to Cambodia very recently to teach and learn from the people there, especially the children, has opened my eyes to a brand new
vision. Now, with the internship, I have gotten to explore this vision further and let it flourish in front of me. These kids from all reaches of the world have opened my eyes to the fact that God does not limit himself when it comes to who he can use. God cannot be compiled or contained to fit our narrow views. He uses even the smallest or youngest of us to reveal himself.
I recently got to read the book The
Spiritual Life of Children. Written by Robert Coles, a renowned
psychiatrist and professor at Harvard University, this book explores the
vision of a child- into the spiritual world. Although Dr. Coles is
not what you would consider a man of the faith- to its entirety- he
still accomplishes the deep spiritual vision that is opened up to the
readers through the words of children. I had to take time to
understand exactly all of the deep psychological thoughts that were given in the book, and the countless sifting conversations Dr. Coles has with children who are on the edge of their own spiritual discovery. These kids come from places like Rio De Janeiro, where they see sickness and poverty riddled between the pages of their lives, but also somehow embrace the spiritual in all of the suffering they are dealt in life. In the words of one young girl who tries to understand her own relationship with Christ... "When I look up to Jesus up there [the well-known statue of Him, arms extended, that stands on a hill and overlooks Rio] I wonder what he is thinking... I try to talk with him. When I am most upset, He is all I have."
In his book, Dr. Coles does a
commendable job of getting children to open up their hearts and minds
to the deeper recesses of spirituality through conversations and also
drawings depicting the spiritual and even Biblical. Coles was not
always so inviting of the spirituality that was brought before him by
his young patients, though. In an interesting conversation with his child
analyst supervisor, Dr. Abraham Fineman, over some of the difficulties
Coles was having with one of his young patients and her obvious need to
express her religious thoughts- Fineman makes a beautifully fine
point to Coles. “Why not shift tactics, why not become seriously involved
with her religious discussions? Why not let her educate us about her
Church and also about her.... Theres a spirituality at work in her,
and we might explore her spiritual psychology.” So Coles took
this to heart- he allowed the spirituality that fills the young mind
of a child to fill his notes. He took in the imagery these children
caught of Jesus and heaven and hell, and brought them into perspective. He followed them deep into
their own philosophical questions, not too far from the ones we ask ourselves, even today. In doing this, Coles admittedly made discoveries and revelations about the inner lives of children that surprised even this learned Harvard professor. Coles, who has been
known for his intense explorations into the mind, lets himself fall
into the backdrop. His voice becomes purposefully bleak in light of all that is
presented to us by these youthful minds.
I can go on and on with all the
insights of this book. My mind is honestly having trouble bottling all of it
down into the simplicity of this blog. There is so much wisdom I have pulled from this book, straight from the very lips of the children Coles has observed. I see my own spiritual struggles being fitted into the words of a child. Again and again, Jesus is mentioned, and the longing within young boys and girls to understand the realm beyond their own is addressed. Each child fights to understand it all in his or her own way. Each child sees a different aspect to their spiritual life. It is calming to see these children not just allowing the circumstances they have been raised in to dictate how they will believe. They search on their own, and discover things that adult eyes can only miss. The intellectualism of such a churning in the mind is something to be beheld. I will say that since reading
this book, I have even more so welcomed the chance to be in the company of
children; It has inspired me to see there is more to be learned from
these fresh young minds.
One such experience was with one of
the kids here at the YWAM Ozark base, Ben. The youngest of
three, Ben came off at first as a shy and reserved boy. He
loved stories, though. Once, at the dinner table, I was invited to
make up a story of my own. Eventually, I found myself almost fighting to bring back
my old storytelling abilities that had at one time been exercised by
a much younger, more imaginative mind. It wasn't easy for me at all,
but as time went on, and every meal invited a new story, I found
my sometimes seedy adult mind being refreshed into the imagination of
my youth. Ben eagerly listened while I told him tales of wildebeests
and cheetahs, little fairies and enchanted forests. There were bold quests led by a
squirrel, a blue jay, and a salamander into dark and dangerous lands. Ben bore with me as I
sometimes struggled through my words, trying almost too hard to bring my best
imagery into the story.
Soon, I found myself learning
information I never had heard of from this little boy who wanted to
sit and hear me tell my cheesy stories. Nearly every meal, I would
find myself being corrected about the mannerisms of the animals I was
using as simple characters. I learned about many different animals that were on the “endangered” list- like the snow leopard and the black rhino. I found out that male cheetahs live in "colonizations" and female cheetahs go off on their own to hunt and pretty much go through life as "loners" until they mate with males. Ben would explain to me the unique way the Basilisk lizard skates upon the water, doing so somehow within the laws of physics. I listened as
Ben gave me countless facts on the routine lives of lions and
cheetahs. I was left to wonder how Ben had retained all he had about these animals. I was honestly amazed. Everyday I would tell a story, and every day I would learn
something new.
“Wow
Ben, you should be telling these stories- you know so much more about
these animals than I do.” Ben only smiled. I thought
about what this could have been- a missed opportunity to learn from
this kid who actually had a lot of information to go around. I could
have just overlooked Ben, and wrote him off as a shy, reserved kid
like had been my initial impression of him. At
the table that was overrun by an excess of adult conversation, I
could have contained myself to simply filling in where I was expected
to. If I had done so, I would have missed out on all I had learned,
and I would have never have opened my imagination back up like I had once done in my youth. I wouldn't take back those things for anything.
I got to explore a little of the
intelligence and factual information that is attained by children as
young as Ben. The spiritual world, however, is something expansive
and heavy for any of us to really fully comprehend. Sometimes though,
the theological concepts we think we have attained are not quite
as far from the simple inquiries we had as children. These children
we encounter through this life are at the age many would call “prime
for learning.” This is the age where they retain the most, and have
observed enough to give them an insightful edge on life. The
spiritual life of children is expansive beyond the barricades of the
over-reasoning that can often come with age. When Jesus said “Let
the little children come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.”(Matthew 19:14) He presented these children not only in a brand new
light to those around them, but I believe he was also referring to
the deep searching and revelation that such children have been bestowed
with. Christ was initially calling us to be inspired by their
imagination- their beautiful spirituality- their seeing through the
dim.
Here's our chance, to empower instead
of overlook; to learn instead of always teach. These kids are the key
to the next generation... Why not start by listening to what they have
to say? They have a lot to teach us, and sometimes we need to hear
them to hear what is deep inside of us. There is a "blue river of truth" that holds to their unique faith in the unseen, and the curiosity in that which is beyond our tangible world. In the facade of a child's dream, there is something to be found; something universally deeper than our own matured philosophies or theologies. In a beautiful closing by Dr.
Coles, we are left this powerful remark.
-“Yet how young we are, when we
start wondering about it all, the nature of the journey and of the
final destination.”
