There is a family that lives on a corner block near my church. You can look down into their back yard as you walk by. As I walked by on Sunday afternoon I saw a young girl, under two sitting on a rope-swing by herself and the following conversation took place.
Girl: Hello
Me: Good afternoon.
Girl: Do you want to come and play at my house?
Me: No, but thank you for asking. You look like you have a nice swing there.
Girl: Yeah I am good at swings.
(five seconds later)
Girl: Bye Bye
Me: Bye bye, have a nice afternoon.
Girl: I love you.
It was one of those golden little moments in life. She was a lovely little kid & was just looking for someone who might play an assisting role in her afternoon swinging plans. She wasn’t too concerned that I was a stranger, but was happy for some conversation and company. For one brief second I couldn’t help but be filled with happiness. You can see why Jesus said that the Kingdom belonged to people such as this. Simple, innocent, friendly & completely trusting. Coming from a family who remind her how much they love her, she wanted to share the love around.
It breaks my heart that the moment following this revolved around my fears for a kid like this. Had I actually come down & joined her for a push of a swing, the chances are that an enraged parent would have barged out forthwith. What was I doing in their yard? Why was I hanging around with their young kid.
Far worse than that scenario is the idea that a more nefarious character might have happened upon such a sweet little child. That maybe the parents didn’t come out fast enough & maybe she could have disappeared…
Moments like this surely have to make someone long for heaven. Oh for a day when golden moments aren’t framed by the black clouds of fear. For the day when love can be given with the knowledge that there need not be loss to come in the future.
Maranatha