As the elevator reached a floor on the way down, you could feel it slowing to a stop. Even before the doors opened you could hear a young voice chatting away with her mother. The excitement of the day was clear, the overflowing happiness and anticipation of going to play with her friend contagious. By the time they stepped into the elevator I was jealous! I did not think I would fit in but the memories of carefree joy when I was that age was so good I wanted to relive them all over again.
As three others and I waited, the four year old looked up and went instantly silent. Everything changed. The excitement we initially saw in her face was replaced by fear and apprehension. The sparkle in her eyes disappeared. The confidence in her posture and attitude slumped into uncertainty with a body message of doubt. From being upfront and leading her mom, she quietly squeezed into a dark spot behind her mother’s legs and the elevator’s wall.
Her message was clear; Help! “My God! Rescue me from my enemies, defend me from these mutineers.” (Psalm 59.1) Hide me. Protect me. Never leave me!
When the doors open on the first floor, mother and daughter stepped out while the rest of us waited to go down to the parking garage. The little girl refused to let her mother’s hand go. She visibly kept her mother positioned between herself and us. The doors began to close with the lingering sound of a mother’s assurance, “I am here. I will never leave you. You are safe.”
I wondered about the trigger in the girl’s reaction. Was it past or present, known or unknown? I also found myself recognizing the emotions she had shared with everyone in the elevator. I closed my eyes and relived the metaphorical actions I had taken to hide as I sought to wrap myself in a protective shield. It is not always easy to find safety. Feeling free of fear is a gift some never know. Danger is always around us.
