by Kelly Knowlden
Similar to last week’s note concerning the frown of disapproval, we need to listen to ourselves to hear how often “No!” comes out of our mouth. “Don’t do that!” “Stop,” and “I’ve told you a hundred times..” are relatives of the word ‘no.’
I want to say “yes” to as much as possible in life. I want to convey to students that what they are asking is possible whenever possible. Do they want to run in the halls. The answer is “yes, that sounds like fun!!!” (I mean if you were a kid, and you saw this long uninterrupted floor space— wouldn’t you want to run?) However, I must quickly add, “You know, maybe we can have a race down the hall someday. But right now is not the time. Perhaps if you join after school basketball or track, you can join the running-in-the-hall club.”
Do they want to play hide and seek in the clothing racks at the mall? You bet! I’ve been tempted to that myself. Do they have toys in school. Sure. Even 7th graders keep little plastic critters in their pocket. So if I meet all the possible wrong-doings with “NO! Stop that!” I will create in my home or school, a critical, cynical, negative, joyless atmosphere that does not convey the truth about God and His world.
Here is what I mean. Is the God you serve One who looks down over the vault of heaven and sees people enjoying themselves and scowlingly shouts, “Cut it out!”? If so, He is not the God of the Bible. The God of heaven is instead One who looks down on the sons of men with His arms open wide and calls, “Come to Me!”
And so we come… and become like a little child. “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Enjoy the world as a child does and say, “Yes.”
