June 10, 2009

Perspectives

2007 1508 page30 cap don’t think I’m old. In the scheme of the whole circle of life thing, that is. But my 7-year-old daughter doesn’t think so. One Sunday morning, while I was getting ready for a run, she asked to come along. It was too cold outside, and I didn’t think she could last the miles I’d planned to cover; I also knew I couldn’t carry her all the way home when her legs gave out, either.
 
I softened the blow when I told her no by saying, “Hey, won’t it be great in a few years, when you are about 13 or 14, to train for a race with me? Then we could do it together!” This was met with a confused expression on her face. And her reply was equally forthcoming. Looking at me with her enormous brown eyes, she asked with complete sincerity, “Will you still be able to run by then?” To put this in perspective, I’ll be in my mid-30s “then.” But this child also thinks I’ll be dead when she goes to college.
 
When I was 3, and I have distinct memories of this, I thought the characters of Sesame Street lived in our television set. In my mind, all that separated me from Big Bird’s world of wonderment was an inch of glass (it was a 1970s set). I remember thumping on the screen to discern how best I could break into the TV set and join up with the Sesame Street crew. It seemed easy. Break the glass (I didn’t know that was harmful), and boom, I’m in. Simple, right? (Luckily my efforts were thwarted.)
 
2007 1508 page30A few months ago I was asked to participate in a taping of a Hope Channel television program. I got a set of DVD copies of the broadcasts to take home to excite my family and friends. So after dinner one night we popped in one of the episodes, and there I was. As everyone giggled at my broadcasting “debut,” my 3-year-old son stared long and hard at the screen and exclaimed with delight, “Hey, Mommy! She looks just like you!”
 
Perspectives matter to the ones who hold them. My 7-year-old thinks I’m ready for retirement, because to her, being a long way from age 7 is a lot closer to age 80. But she’s 7. Her world is first grade, Junie B. Jones books, Adventurer Club, and piano lessons. She relates to me in the scheme of how she perceives her world.
It doesn’t make sense to my little boy that Mommy can be on TV and sitting next to him on the couch at the same time. TV is for Thomas the Tank Engine and The Wiggles—not for his mother. He saw someone who looked exactly like me, and his mind never made the connection that it actually was me. Why not? Because his thinking is based on the worldview of a 3-year-old.
 
Years ago, if I had succeeded in cracking open our television set to be on Sesame Street, I would have been in for a rude awakening (even before my parents got to me). There would have been no animated overgrown birds and trash-can grumps to play with—just broken glass, wires and circuits frying, and possibly smoke. Clearly I know better now.
We grow and, with each passing day, our perspectives on pretty much everything change. Aging, education, experience, maturity—they all shape our ever-evolving thought processes. The truth is that we never will reach the pinnacle of all understanding, for we will grow and change until the very end.
 
But here is what I love about God (among the many things). He is always in step with our ever-changing perspectives. Truly the Master of His own creations, He knows just how to meet us where we are. He knows how to speak the language we understand best, or to speak loudly or softly depending on how well we’re listening that day. And we can trust Him to know how best to work with our individual perspectives to tell us what we need to know, when we need to know it.
 
As long as our lives are in His hands, our experiences all serve to mold our existence in the way He sees best. And to me, because He is the God who loves me with no limits, His perspective is the only one that truly matters.
 
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Wilona Karimabadi is marketing and editorial director for KidsView—Adventist Review’s magazine for children. She thinks kids have the best perspectives.

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