Ever since I was young I have found that I enjoy been around children. Children are special to me for many reasons. I love children’s innocence. It is not my intention here to discuss wether human nature is intrinsically predisposed for evil or a tabula rasa as John Locke described in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. What I refer to here is children’s ability to perceive the world without preconceived notions. Their eyes see everything with “new” eyes. They want to know, they want to learn. They like to discover things, things that we as adults take for granted. Children also have a forgiving heart. So many times I have seen how children after a moment of discord with an adult or another child, will forget everything and start over as if nothing happened. Not so, with us adults. We may forgive but we seldom forget. Children also have faith. I remember the stories I told 5th graders at dinner time at a camp. They were ridiculous stories about pink elephants, yet they heard them and even believed them. If it sounds convincing, they believe. It is no wonder that Jesus used children as an example of the type of people that would enter Heaven. He saw their faith. That’s not so with us. We doubt first, believe second but only if we are factually convinced. Children love. They don’t establish conditions for loving, they just do. Their affection is not guided by prejudice, socioeconomic conditions or color of skin. How different it is with us.

Ten years ago, I wrote a poem which encapsulates why I love children.

Through They Eyes of A Child

I wish I could see life thru the eyes of a child.

To them life is so simple and mild.

Play and game is what matters and makes time so worth while.

How untrue this is for me,

So many pressures and preoccupations that make myself so wild.

They don’t worry about tomorrow,

The future or even today,

It’s the moment they seize that makes like so ok.

They sing, they laugh, they pretend.

Life is not serious to them.

How easy it is for them to believe what they are told.

Unlike adults who question, doubt, and reason so bold.

What can they fear? They are happy, satisfied and assured.

But we have so many things to make us insecure.

So if we plan our life to endure.

Let us learn to be pure.

Through the eyes of a child.