Welcome to Child's Avenue

Welcome to Child's Avenue

Preston and I stumbled upon this magical street some years ago before we were dating.

We were on a road trip one California winter, listening to Oceanlab and passing through gorgeous orchards that made we wonder what they looked like in the spring or fall.

 Such beautiful music.

The reason why I love childlikeness so much is because from the moment we are born into this world, something tries to steal our innocence.  Something tries to steal our imagination.  Something tries to steal Mystery, Hope, and Joy, and replace it with fear.  Ultimately, that something tries to steal LIFE itself.  And far too many people in this world are not really living.  

I believe childlikeness is key to restoring LIFE to people.  LIFE -- hope, mystery, imagination, joy, innocence...and so much more!  This is what we were made for.  It is tragic when we lose it.  But I believe that child is still within all of us.  We just have to unlock him or her and set them free.

George MacDonald writes about a child in his story 'At The Back Of The North Wind,' saying

"He was not afraid, for he had not yet learned how to be"

How brilliantly the truth is revealed in this one simple phrase!

We, as adults, have to do a whole lot of UNlearning to gain back that pure, fearless way of life that children so naturally live.

A child knows he is an artist, until someone of 'authority' convinces him he isn't.

A child knows she is a singer, until someone she trusts tells her she isn't as good as so-and-so.

A child knows he can be an astronaut, or the president, or a fairy princess when he or she grows up...until they learn to not have faith in the things they believe in.

I think it is time for us to live as children do, and to respect children's dreams, not quench them because WE are afraid, or because WE doubt.

We ought to let them teach us a thing or two about LIFE and FAITH.

They can be exceptional leaders...IF we let them.

Sigur Ros has a song called "Glosoli," which could very well be the most beautiful song I have ever heard.

The word glosoli can be translated as a childlike way of saying the "glowing, glittery sun."

Please take a few minutes to watch and listen to this song.  

I guarantee you it WILL inspire you.

It so inspired me that I wrote the following piece as a poetic allegory to go along with the music video.  This piece of writing, that I titled "Drumbeat of the Children," has two parts that parallel each other.

Enjoy!

Drumbeat of the children

Expectation is waiting at the end of the shore

The children tap their feet

To the rhythm of mysteries observed easily with pure eyes.

They are a silent choir

Undisguised and realized.

Their wordless beats call out for freedom to be released over the waters

Prayers for mothers and fathers

They march together as a quiet army

Moving like whispers and shadows as silent light sings

Lean in… and hear their song

There is power in their calm

Assembling the soldiers of purity

They stop for just one…in unity

Joining with him in a deep slumber

Awakening all to dream together

Their drumming builds invisible foundations

Stronger than this world’s realization

Rising higher in celebration

Letting loose in faith and imagination

The drumbeats of the children pound louder

This is the sound of the hour

Expressions are facing at the edge of a cliff

The children anticipate

and relate to something unseen

Flying in their thinking is never a ‘what if’

For they are kings and queens.

Their simple smiles curve up, and stir us as joy is loosed over the waters

Prayers for sons and daughters

As their drums roll down the hill

their feet lift off the ground

In all the stillness they are found

And their delight is complete

Lean in…and hear their beat

As they take flight beyond the sea

As they’re swimming high over the ocean

Freedom is in motion

Propelling even the wary into promotion

The last one hesitates as he takes in this escapade

A threshold to a world’s secret escape

Breathe in and jump,

this is why we were made

Unfettered, undone

A life no longer faltered

This is the drumbeat of the children

The silence of moving water

(Inspired by Sigur Ros' "Glosoli" music video)