Kids are fun at times, especially when there are between four and six, open to new ideas, and you are spinning a great story that has no foundation in reality. Their ability to focus and believe is incredible. It almost seems as if the more fanciful the story the more intensely they believe!
One neighborhood boy stopped as Carli and I waited in the car for the rest of the family to leave. As he chatted with Carli I began to control the up and down movement of the window from my driver’s controls. Given that Carli’s hands were clearly not on the controls, the questions flew left and right. It seemed natural for the fairy tale to spin out of control!
“How do you do that?”
“It is magic; you just speak and the window moves as you command.”
“Can I do this?’
“Sure, if you really concentrate.”
“Up!” The window moves as I press the electric control.
“Down! Stop.” The window appears to move on command.
The interaction went on for almost five minutes. As the family arrived and we left, Carli and I were laughing in good spirits.
Coming back later, we watched the strangest picture unfold.
A car full of kids was just getting ready to leave our neighbor’s house. The mothers were saying their goodbyes while on the other side of the car a little blond haired boy resolutely commanded the windows to roll down. When nothing happened, the boy’s faced became more and more intense, louder and louder, until he was almost screaming.
As he saw us he came running over, asking desperately how he was supposed to control the window. We tried to explain, but it didn’t make any sense to the young boy who thought he knew the real story. Clearly we were just hiding things!
“The gullible believe anything they’re told; the prudent sift and weigh every word.” (Proverbs 14.15)
Am I any different? Do I evaluate what I think I already know? Are my conceptions about God just as fixed as the little boy who believed?
