Eyes of a child

Last week, M and I were at the Target over on Colonial. It isn't my favorite Target, but it is the closest. As we got out of our car to walk to the store, we saw this big, rusty, white Cadillac driving down the parking lot aisle. It was so beat up! But, M looked at it, his eyes going wide and said, "Look at that FANCY car! Mom, did you see that car! Wow!!" And, then as it got closer and the many rusted out spots became apparent, he said, "Hmm. I guess it is a little dirty but boy is it fancy!"

I giggled to myself but later I got to thinking about it again. When is it that we lose the ability to look at the world as a place of joy and wonder? What happens that causes us to look at a rusty old car and only see a rusty old car instead of a fancy automobile? What would happen if we all kept looking at the world through the eyes of a child?

If you ask M about whether everyone should have health care or just people who can afford it, he says, "Well everyone should have it Mom. It is not fair for only some people to get medicine." If you ask M what he thinks about war, he says, "You aren't supposed to hurt other people and you can NEVER point guns at them. Don't their moms take away their guns if they point them at other people?"

See, all these issues we debate endlessly as adults could easily be resolved if we just remembered the basic rules we learned as kids.