(Graphic is "Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch," by American artist Edward Hicks. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Reynolda House Museum of Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Used under Creative Commons License)
Lectionary Scripture - Isaiah 11:1-10 NRSV
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
"I Just Knew"
Thrust up into my face, a young girl offered me a beautiful lily. The child offering it looked at me with a big smile as grandmother tried to move her along. Remaining where she stood until I acknowledged her gift, I smiled and said, “You made my day giving this to me. Thank you so much.” Pleased with my response, the child moved along at grandmother’s insistence. The truth of course is that the moment stayed with me the whole day as did the flower; even its dried remnants remain on my desk nearly a month later
Moments like the one above intrigue me. While marveling at the child’s generosity and altruism, I found myself praying and hoping that the young girl’s innocence remains with her always. So far the child seems in good hands, particularly with a grandparent who allowed her a protected moment with a stranger – a moment that affirmed the soul and budding personality God placed in the child.
In time however, the child will be in the world’s hands just as each of us have been or are. The people connected to those hands and those moments will be a mixture of persons who are beneficent, indifferent, or evil. Sometimes there will be a confusing mix of those traits in a single person -- from which only time and experience (and heartache) reveal which trait dominates and drives the individual and how one must protect themselves from such persons.
I imagine that for most of us, we prefer that a child’s innocence remain undisturbed rather than wilting and drying up like a picked flower. Perhaps we hope for a return ourselves to innocence as in that space we probably experienced life’s most peaceful, joyous, and amazing moments.
For me, one innocent yet profound moment with my youngest daughter occurred when she was about seven or eight years old. Her remarkably social and popular personality seemed to be going through a time of few friends since starting a program for gifted children in the school district. Eventually I decided it might be a good time for dad and daughter to do something together, so we spent a portion of one Saturday at the local children’s museum. A large imposing place, we had to wait inside the building in a long line with other parents and children until it came our turn for the ushers to take our tickets. Standing in the slowly moving line, I told Bree that I wanted to put some of our things in one of the available lockers. She held our place in line among the other children and parents while I dashed quickly to the nearby locker area.
Paying for our locker and stuffing in it what I could, I put the key into my pocket and dashed back to my daughter. She smiled at me and then said, “I bet I know which locker you got.” The challenge surprised me. I then replied with something to the effect of, “Well, that would be pretty amazing kiddo because the lockers are completely out of sight. There are a couple hundred of them and you were standing here in line all the time and there’s no way our things can be seen. You haven’t seen the key with the locker’s number because it’s been in my pocket. Okay, go head and give it a try because I’m really curious.”
Bree shot off to the locker area and came back a few moments later. She told me the number of the locker she thought was ours. I pulled the key from my pocket and showed it to her after which she smiled quite proudly having guessed the locker number correctly! When I asked how she knew, she simply said, “I just knew.” It was one of those phenomenal moments that stayed with me the whole day as we wandered through the museum’s exhibits. Like Mary, the parent of Jesus, I treasured in my heart this small but incredibly amazing feat my child had done. Often, it and other events led me thereafter to ponder what the future might hold for this child God had placed into our lives.
The subsequent years for my daughter have had their challenges and heartaches. She has struggled through relationships with persons who at first seemed beneficent but later proved to be neglectful. There have also been impacts to her life from a person or two driven and dominated by evil. Largely, she has come to terms with these realities and it’s great to see her life back on track with college studies and plans for a rich and rewarding future.
Many of us consider Bree’s heartaches and challenges to be a routine part of the life lessons we learn. For me however, I want a time to come when that’s not the case for any child. I want instead a time that’s so peaceful and gentle and selfless and generous that the fullness of God’s gifts in anyone of us can be realized without hesitation or impediment of any kind. So periodically I have to stop and ask myself what might that kind of world look like, feel like, act like? What am I willing to do and sacrifice and fight for to make such a world possible?
For me, I can’t help but think that such a world would be a deeply joyous place to live. In such a world there would be no threat of poverty, homelessness, starvation, disease, ignorance, bigotry, and continual war – a pestilence which we’ve become so attached to. On that note, one person I know tells me her congregation wants to become a peace church. What keeps that from happening however are the military people who bristle at their church having such an identity.
If however the world could be peaceful, gentle, generous, and selfless like the portrait Isaiah paints, I then think of what life might be like for my oldest daughter who we consider the artist in the family. Rather than slaving away at a job which is not her life passion but rather a means to pay the bills, she would be free to explore and fully develop the artisan God has placed in her such as we have seen through her painting, photography, sculpting, drawing, interior design and decoration, clothing design and decoration, and last but not least -- her creative cuisine.
Ultimately, if the Peaceable Kingdom is to ever happen -- or to ever be a success -- it comes down to each and every child -- and each and every one of us -- readily having the means to be all God intends us to be. No creed or totalitarian state can give that to us. No single faith tradition or school of thought or process or philosophy can make it so.
The measure of it will be when a child can lead – even if the only reason to follow is because they “just knew” what to do.
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