Innocence Abandoned
By Frank Daniels, of Old Hickory, TN.
"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein."
Luke 18:17
Often, we hear the phrase, "innocence lost", or "loss of innocence". During the years we are generally presumed to have our innocence, we are told that we will lose it, and once we reach a certain age, it is assumed that we have lost it, and we rarely seem to question the idea.
I believe that innocence is more often actually disregarded, and not indeed lost, at all.
In the past several days, in keeping with the accepted fact of its loss, I have contemplated my innocence. After much reflection, rumination, reenactment and so on, I have realized that my innocence remains intact, though neglected, from time to time. I still find myself easily taken in by friendly strangers, even to the point of danger, though perhaps of a different kind than that faced by small children. I can still be excited at the thought of making a new friend, even to the point of scaring one away, and I still find pleasure in observing God's creation at work and at what appears to be play, all the while, quite satisfied that I don't know the correct names of any but a few of the hundreds, even thousands of life forms I see each day. I still enjoy the feeling of being next to someone I love, tending carefully to their needs, and though I have no real idea of what I am doing, I am pleased when anything seems to work. I still like to leave notes and make jokes and tell about things I see, and I still feel puzzled by negative or indifferent responses. I talk to animals and I personalize my possessions, to the point of grieving the disposal of a favored rag that was once a shirt. Mostly what I think of as innocence are those things most commonly referred to as "childish", when, in fact, they are more child-like, which I believe to be a very important distinction, as I feel certain Jesus does, upon reading the captioned passage.
Unlike childishness, child-likeness is an ideal state. It is the door we should leave from each day to face the world, and the door by which we return each night - if we must leave, at all. It is the unquenchable spirit of all great things, for without it there would be no curiosity, no exploration, no discovery, no solutions, no peace, no joy, no hope and no love.
As children in this society, we are taught that it is important to "grow up", "grow out of our childish ways", "become an adult", most of which has been turned into encoded advertisement for the adult pleasures in life, all of which are available only to the more discriminating consumer, and so on. The poison comes early and hard, anymore, and it never stops. We are taught to believe that we are nobody unless we are sophisticated, that we must have worldly power to be more, and that any less is a crime of some sort. Simplicity only means something if it is complicated and difficult to obtain. Small pleasures are dismissed in the glare of theme parks, crowded amusements and non-stop stimulation, and those who enjoy books, quite entertainments or the pursuit of disciplined excellence in any activity that is unlikely to lead to a high profile life-style, are outcasts.
The world is upside down.
Adam and Eve willfully abandoned their innocence, not by seeking knowledge, as we are often told, but by acting to separate themselves from creation, through disobedience, or denial of the Creator. They "grew up". The process is perpetuated in every family infected by the false attractions of distinction, the lie of worldliness. In the quest to be "different", which God assures us that we already are, every child becomes an adult by becoming the same as every other adult - disaffected, disillusioned, cynical and joyless, or by merely adopting some illusion of affection and joy, as taught by their unconsciously Godless churches, parents and schools, not to mention the purveyors of important consumer goods of distinction.
Children are 'adulted' in much the same way that Eve was deceived, by being convinced that they are not only able, but responsible for choosing and mastering their destiny. Most children fail the test, fall short of their chosen goal, and forever wallow in their sense of failure, never discovering what God intended for them, and never achieving the joy likewise intended. These self-made failures impose even more impossible pressures on their offspring, and the process repeats itself over and over again, gaining speed and force with each generation. This accelerated deterioration and distancing is forcing a natural phenomenon that awaits all atheistic schemes of thought - for every evolutionary step, there is an equal and opposite devolutionary step. Without God, only the laws of nature apply, or so it would seem, and all the while, the keepers of those laws are chiefs among the deniers of the Law Giver.
Without God, humans are pitifully weak, doomed animals. In this state, they are hopelessly at the mercy of an unforgiving creation to which they have denied their connection.
Innocence is the child that hides in the heart of every human, waiting for permission to speak its wisdom, though often never allowed to. Innocence is the still, small voice, that tells us that everything will be okay, that makes everything better with a kiss, that holds our hand when we are afraid, that strengthens us to stand up when we know something isn't right and hangs our head for us when we have done wrong. Innocence is the root of every heroic thought and deed, and the muse of every true poet, artist and musician. Innocence is the heart and soul of every charitable act, and it is the fuel of God's universe. Innocence is Love.