“Lesson one: Do not hide.”*
Kuja! Kuja hapa! Kuuujaaa!! Come here! And there he goes again. Out the gate and down the lane. Seeing me coming he ducked beside the bushes, almost crouching, humorously hiding. His bright orange shirt contrasting clearly with the green foliage around him. As he peered out to see if I was watching him we made eye contact and made clear the fact that he could not truly hide from me. Yet he crouched down again with delusional notions of hiding from his father.
We hide in shame, fear, and disobedience. We hide to escape the inevitable. Yet we can not hide.
Lesson two: There are right ways to fight. And if you have questions we can talk through the night”*
“But Papa. He wasn’t listening to my idea. And I don’t want to do what he says. So that’s why I hit him.”
When in doubt, aggression. When insecure, aggression. When not in control, aggression. Not necessarily the best response to things, but sadly enough one that is all too common. Lashing out rarely is the right response.
“Lesson three: You’re not alone.”*
Sitting on the single step in our house with my oldest listening as he tells me how no one will listen to him. His plight is one of despair and is dripping in sorrow at his perceived loneliness. Although so many are around him, even talking to him with invitations of companionship, he is lost in himself and feels alone.
There truly is nothing new under the sun. Did not Adam try to hide? or Jacob wrestle? or David feel all alone? So while my boys are learning basic lessons that are not new to humanity, these lessons seem to be ones we all need to revisit from time to time. To attempt to hide from an omniscient one, or have the gall to wrestle with an omnipotent one, or claim isolation in the presence of the omnipresent one is clearly missing the big picture. Wasn’t there something about not seeing a forest due to all the trees? Perhaps it is the focal point within these lessons. Maybe, just maybe, the view should not be directed at oneself at all.
“Just remember, lesson one.”*
* Italicized lyrics from Boys (Lesson One) by Jars of Clay
nehrely there 