Kids Logic

“When are we going to start getting smaller?” The four-year-old girl’s question baffled her mother. The thrust of acceleration toward the end of the runway was over, now, climbing skyward, the childish logic penetrated the dim-witted adult. Never having flown before, the child’s logic viewed herself, inside the plane from the ground view—an ever-shrinking object as both sound and image faded; a perfectly logical conclusion based on her limited collection of facts. Talking to one of my blind-from-birth friends about vision one day, I mentioned perspective. He’d not heard of it, so I attempted to explain. He was astounded that people and things appear smaller the farther way they are. He, in his late twenties, had never heard or thought about this. Again, an inconceivable concept even to an adult who had insufficient experience on which to base conclusions. Perhaps, coming to scripture, we too arrive at perfectly logical conclusions based on insufficient information. Or, perhaps, our conclusions are based less on insufficient knowledge as on preconceived ideas. Or, again, our life experience, our education, how significant others treated us results in logical but erroneous conclusions. Paul said, “When I was a child, I thought as a child…” We as adults, consider ourselves full-grown in the spiritual realm as well. Perhaps a recognition that we are seeing things as a child, with a child’s limited vision, a child’s clear logical train reaching strange conclusions will help us see our own and others’ beliefs for what they are: childish thoughts seen “darkly.” Those beliefs, doctrines, statements of faith which I hold so dear and am so willing to fight for may be just the airy logic of a mind with insufficient information or one with insufficient relationship with the God of reality to truly know, understand, act upon and draw conclusions from. Jesus said that we should become as little children. Perhaps, if we take Him at His word, we can begin the maturation process toward a logic born of His adult logic and reach true conclusions. In the meantime, it behooves us to talk and walk carefully around each other’s belief systems and to hold our own beliefs loosely, ready to be corrected when new insight, new knowledge, deeper relationship challenges and corrects us. 4/5/13