One of the challenges of humanity might be to find back the child in ourselves.
Is it adult logic to think that children's logic could be our salvation?
Special children
Yes, I have very special children ………. But all children are special, you might think? Well I agree wholeheartedly. Although I sometimes get the impression that some people think they have more special children than others.
Anyway, I think all people are special. Everyone is unique and every person has talents, qualities and skills.
For me, the notion of “Special Children” is a pleonasm.
Own logic
In fact, I actually find young children more special than adults. Young children have a very special quality. They have their own logic.
Children’s logic
They can ask certain questions, after which there is a brief silence, or they can do or say things that make us adults think. Sometimes comical, sometimes hard and direct, sometimes moving, but always absolutely fair. They are able to touch the heart of the rose in all it’s simplicity. The word says it all: “Children's logic”. It really is their quality.
I try to maintain and use that quality, but really that’s not so easy.
Examples
My son Tim is an adult for a long time, but in his early years he sometimes gave me this characteristic short moments of silence. A moment to think before to say something…….
Now I would like to give three examples of his children's logic.
1] Isn't the moon flat?
He was about 6, or 7 I think …….
"Dad, isn't the moon flat?" He asked. Immediately there was this silence, I remember clearly. "What do you mean Tim?" Then he said that the visible part of the moon always looks the same. And he is right. We always see the same side of the moon from the Earth. Her appearance doesn't matter. We also know that the moon is a sphere and that we cannot see the back of it from the Earth.
So I could have just told him and suggest him to accept it. But I was so eager to explain to him why he always sees the same side of the moon. Well, that gave a lot of hassle and rumble with a melon like earth and an orange like moon. He and I were spinning in the garden with that fruit and a lot of talking. Wonderful memories.
I don't know if he really understood it in that moment, but does it really matter? Besides, I was wondering if I understood it completely? Anyway, I thought his child's logic that the moon had to be flat because she always looked the same, was brilliant.
Perhaps my son's child logic was the same as from the people who once believed the earth was flat?
2] Out in the rain
We adults would like to be inside on time when we know it will rain. We check our Apps and make sure we stay dry. We take precautions. Put on a rain suit and boots or bring an umbrella. Children's logic works differently.
My son was about 4 or 5 years old. It was a drizzly day and therefore inside all day and possibly the previous one or two days as well. Children want to be outside and that is the best thing for them. Adults prefer not to get wet and there arises a conflict with children's logic.
On that drizzly day, there was probably a reason why the children could no longer be kept indoors. Maybe it was an impending cloudburst, or just a brief clear-up. I don't remember, but Tim would go outside anyhow.
My son in de house wore socks and it was clear that he wanted to run out on those socks. His mother however called to him, "Not on your socks!" That instruction was loud and clear, and fitted the weather conditions. The meaning of that instruction was less obvious.
Tim sat down on the mat by the back door, took off his socks, layed them on his shoes and ran into the soaking wet garden ……
His children's logic again gave me reason to think.
3] Pizza courier
One day I walk in a supermarket with my son. I think he was about six years old. Just run errands. Nothing special, everything in routine. I was doing adult duties. Finishing the shopping list and keeping an eye on the child.
Something special happened in section where the frozen food is. Tim was looking in the freezers. No idea what he saw or wanted. From the corner of my eye I saw an elderly lady approaching him. Such a beautiful lady who seems seventy, but may have passed her eighties.
Searching for my things on my shopping list, I heard her ask him, "What do you want to be when you've grown up?" I paid no further attention to it and heard Tim say after some hesitation: “Pizza courier”. The lady responded very sweetly and said that she would order a pizza from him later.
I was curious to see how this would continue, and I witnessed a very special situation. Tim, with all his children's logic, looked at me and then back at her. That brief silence fell again, but now because of the ladies remark. After a few seconds he said to her, "But are you not already dead by than?" There I was in the silence again. This time a bit longer. I thought about the idea to say “Does anyone know whose child this is?".
Fortunately it was not necessary, because the beautiful, gentle lady smiled and gave him a pat on the head.
Our salvation
One of the challenges for humanity might be to find back the child in ourselves. The child with the disarming affection, the vulnerable openness. The child who does not judge and knows nothing about prejudices. The child who lives in harmony with nature and with the others. The child with an unwavering curiosity about everything ……. and so on
Is it adult logic to think that children's logic could be our salvation?
© TrefMij July 2020
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