the candor of children
The Lectionary story for Sunday is David’s escapade down the path of sin and cover up, a story teamed with Seuss’ “Bartholomew and the Oobleck”. It is a timeless but evasive truth that when we have made mistakes, and we all have, our denial and cover up only exacerbate the destruction. No story could be more appropriate in a week where we continue to hemorrhage in the ill gotten war in Iraq. This was also the week of Mel Gibson’s speech denying his anti-Semitism even as the arresting officers were told to tone down their report of his anti-Semitic drunken tirade during his arrest. When it comes to confession, or lack there of, I confess that I’m still kind of stinging from Bill’s refusal to come clean about his involvement with Monica. These are hard stories, ones in which truth is often more painful than fiction.
By all rights I should be wallowing in tales of sin and sorrow in preparation for Sunday’s sermon, but even the most sordid of tales is a bit lame on this Thursday afternoon. After a week spent with children during our annual Peace Trail, a week with the candor and questions of our younger members, I’m really lacking patience for the adult propensity to hide and deny. Children make mistakes but they’re remarkably forthcoming. Sometimes they even do or say mean things, yet their capacity for confession is immense. Children genuinely want to give and receive love, to laugh and play, to revel in the wonder of creation.
Maybe by Saturday I can wade back in to David and the current crisis in honesty, but for today I need to simply revel in the wonder of children.
