| Sunny Side Up April 17, 2002 � 2002, Kathleen Gibson Only in the eyes of a child Sometimes I can�t find God. Oh, I know he�s not hard to experience, but I�ve been churched so long, theologized so much, seminarred so often, sanitized, saintified, holyfied and Sundayfied so thoroughly that the goal of a pure childlike faith is mere rhetoric. Mosquito spit in a dry sky. But every so often I�m reminded how to get it back. Connor was five at the time. I was at her house to pick up my daughter. While waiting in the hall I noticed a striking picture; a black and white sketch of a man in biblical garb, seated on a rock beside a rushing stream, the spreading branches of a leafy tree above him, bending over him in an almost protective gesture. Do you notice anything unusual about that picture?� Connor�s mother asked. I looked more carefully. Man, stream, rock, tree. �No. What should I look for? Something hidden?� �The face of Jesus is in the tree,� she answered. I searched the print until my head ached; studied the artist�s lines, looked for clues in the shading. Got closer. Backed up. Nothing. She offered to show me, but I was determined to find it on my own. I opened my mouth to admit defeat when Connor, standing behind me, spoke up shyly. �I dan dee it dum down he-ah. I dink do dould det down.� (I adored her abundance of D�s.) I crouched beside her, not because I thought I would be able to see�just to show her I was serious about trying. I�m often hopeless at grasping the abstract; whether in matters of faith or substance. As I looked up at the picture however, what had been invisible while I was standing upright came clearly into focus: the profile of Christ in the leafy overhanging branches, his gaze fixed lovingly on the figure seated below. �I see it! I see it!� I nearly shouted in excitement. I may have even bounced a bit. Connor pointed her chin at the floor, drew a circle on the hardwood with her bare toe. �I dold do do det down,� she said. It�s been a few years, but I�ve thought of Connor�s advice often. It echoes Paul�s words to the conflicted, sometimes arrogant Corinthian church. �For God, in his wisdom, saw to it that He would never be found through human brilliance.....� Each time my rational mind, so full of right answers and correct theology, loses sight of divine simplicity, I know it�s time to �det down.� Low�as low as a child is small�so I can look up and see, fixed on me in love, the gaze of Christ. It�s how I find God again. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |