No, today’s entry is not a food review nor is it a collection of recipes. Today’s entry is about being better. It’s about humbling ourselves and taking tips from unlikely folk. These unlikely are different from other, perhaps more likely folk because we have been in their shoes before.
Now I should mention; there is a certain amount of irony surrounding this topic because as I mentioned earlier, we have been in the same shoes (for the most part) as the people whom I am challenging us to be like and yet many of us feel it is part of our duty in life to bring these people to roughly the same place we are. Ironic, Yes! I am right! Kind of like an apple tree asking advice from an apple.
The people I am talking about are children (gasp). What!? Why?! Kids are silly! They’re inexperienced. They don’t understand how things work! They poop their pants!!!
To you, nay-sayer, I would say those are some of the exact reasons why I like kids. I like kids because they are silly, and they don’t even realize it. Kids like to run around naked and they don’t feel ashamed. Kids are messy, and they don’t feel guilty about it. They laugh loudly and scream with gusto and sing in public and love with ease (they also fart!)!!
Now to those of you reading this and thinking to yourself (perhaps even screaming at the monitor) “well they shouldn’t be so silly!”, “oh! How could running around naked ever be acceptable?! We’re civilized for Pete’s sake!”, “Kids need to learn how be tidy!”, or any other type of ridiculous notion, I would humbly put forward that you, are a meany and a poopy-head. That’s right; a poopy-head.
You see, kids (something I don’t have yet) are a blessing, whatever faith (or lack thereof) you claim, you can’t deny that children are a miracle. They are beautiful and cute and they bring light into the world!
So why is it that we try to correct and train away the things that make them children? We teach them to be ashamed and self conscious and embarrassed. We teach them to hide emotion so they may be publicly accepted. We teach them about greed and hate. We teach them to be “proper”.
Much like the story found in Genesis, kids don’t know to be ashamed of their nakedness; they have to be taught that it is wrong to be naked. Kids need to be told to be tidy when the natural inclination is messiness! But we steal it just as it was stolen from us.
And now we as adults or “grown-ups” aren’t comfortable singing. We are afraid to dance through the grocery when George Michael’s Faith is on the radio because we could look silly. We become hesitant to ask too many questions for the sake of not looking like we don’t fully understand. Are kids even aware that they are being looked at?
I think kids just want to learn and be free. They ask a million questions in order to understand how something works or why things are the way they are and they don’t even think “Maybe there are others who already know the answer and might think I’m stupid because I have to ask…”.
Think about it, “smarten-up, get serious, be quiet, stop that, don’t run, two-hands on that cup!’ are all common phrases given to children. But when is the last time you saw a kid cry because they spilled grape juice all over their favorite white blouse? And when is the last time someone else’s child called your kid immature because he was making fart noises with his mouth? Have you ever seen a little girl embarrassed because she wore a tutu to the mall? I haven’t. When’s the last time a child beat herself up because she ate too much at dinner?
At what age do we start giving a crap about what other people think we look like? Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we were allowed to be like children again? Well, I’m in charge here so I say it would be!
Why can’t people dress the way they want and not be labeled? Why can’t people just see people instead of race and ethnicity? It certainly isn’t because we live in a childish world.
We demand perfection in our environment and ourselves and we beat ourselves up when fail to achieve that. Kids don’t fret over failure. They keep going. Think about how many tries it takes to learn to ride a bike! How many of us expect greatness on the first try? The reality is; it doesn’t happen.
Which brings us to the point. Ready? Okay. As Christians, does it make sense to think we won’t fail or shouldn’t fail? Again, I’m calling the shots, and the answer is NO! We can’t expect perfection on the first go. It’s stupid. We can’t expect that because it is not reality.
We have been trained away from making a “mess” (which is really a matter of perception). We’re taught to hide our desire to dance or sing or run or play because we could appear immature. These are the things our Father desires! What good is God and his grace if we force ourselves to be perfect? What good does it do to hide our messiness? It bottles it up and eventually we overflow with guilt or despair or anger or embarrassment because we are overwhelmed by something we should’ve released!
Kids are honest and they do what they want to. They don’t hide their messes. Because painting is fun when there are no rules about where the paint can go. Playing in the yard is better in the nude. Eating salad is better with your hands. Shopping at the mall is better when you’re dressed as Spider-Man….unless of course, the grown-ups tell you otherwise. God is not the parent that tells us we look stupid when we’re dressed how we want. God doesn’t mind the paint on the wall or the glitter in the carpet. He doesn’t tell us it’s wrong to make a mess! He expects it.
Now there is one thing I need to clear up; messy and dirty are two different things. Messy is a clutter a lot of stuff thrown about. Dirty is bacteria filled. Dirty is where diseases live. Dirty smells terrible.
I make this distinction because messy is harmless, and dirty can kill you. I have two examples; the first is the shop of a man who works with his hands. He comes and goes when he pleases and he’s usually in a hurry. This works well for him. His shop is covered in sawdust and there wood scraps and tools in various places. This is messy.
Now imagine a kitchen with utensils and dishes strewn all over, but underneath these dishes, we find scraps of rotting food which attract bugs and vermin. There’s mold and bacteria growing in nooks and crannies. This is dirty.
The idea is to allow for a mess without being dirty. You see we correct our kids when they play with poop or when they put certain things in their mouths because that’s how they get sick. We don’t want our kids to be sick because when they’re sick they don’t play, they don’t run, they don’t laugh.
So for the sake of remaining childish and for the sake of being clean yet messy be honest about who you are. Don’t let the fear of shame guide your decisions. Let yourself be silly. Do what you want. Tell yourself to have fun and seize the day. Tell a stranger they look nice today (not because I told you to but because you believe it to be true). But work on getting clean. Tell your wife you’re struggling with porn. Tell your friends you’ve been hurting yourself. Tell your dad you don’t feel like he loves you. Tell your boyfriend you drink too much. Cleaning is much easier with friends. If they love you, you’ll be okay.
Humble yourself like a little child.
Matthew 18:4
Isaiah 1:18
Peace
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