The modern world is like a packed, noisy McDonald’s restaurant. Imagine yourself sitting in one of its stiff, uncomfortable chairs and eating its unnourishing food. Like a child whose parents are preoccupied, you feel vaguely lonely, bored, edgy.
Looking across the room, all at once you see a funny man. His head is cocked sideways and he’s making faces at you. You realize he’s trying to get your attention.
Amused, flattered, warmed inside, you ease out of your chair and start making your way across the room. As you draw closer to the man, he drops his bizarre antics, straightens up, and flashes a radiant smile. It’s as if he is greeting an old friend. You feel you have never seen such a beautiful, welcoming smile, a smile that touches and warms the deepest place in you. Smiling back, you know that never before in your life have you felt so good, so happy, so natural, so yourself. You’ve found an instant friend.
You go up and introduce yourself, and he tells you his name.
“Hello,” he says. “My name is Jesus.”
Another excerpt from The Mystery of Children, by Mike Mason. I know, it’s getting to be a habit. Either I need to transcribe the whole dang thing or you need to go out and buy it right now. Truthfully, I wish I would’ve written this myself. The world — and adulthood — IS like a noisy McDonald’s. Uncomfortable. Unnourishing.
When I speak at churches, people always chuckle when I reveal my theory that Jesus invented noogies, wedgies, and wet willies. (It certainly explains why children were attracted to him like a magnet.) This side of Jesus — the side that encourages us to Escape Adulthood and the side that Mike Mason paints so well — is the side that intrigues me the most.
I’m pretty sure that if more people got to know this side, the world would be a much better place.
[tags]childlike faith, Jesus, McDonald’s, The Mystery of Children, Mike Mason[/tags]
Beautiful actidote, Jason. I’m not an overly religious man myself, but I have faith in many things. I think children are more apt to flock toward Jesus and his teachings more easily than adults because they haven’t become skeptics of everything the reality of life has made them into. Thats unfortunate. This is why you’re on the right path with your “Escape Adulthood” philosophy. The innocense of youth often opens up our minds to greater possibilities….and a greater faith in life, and ourselves.
I try every day to find the little miracles in the McDonalds of life. They’re there….we just have to know where, and how to look.
Guy~
Yay for noogies! Hip hip, hooray!
Back in school, I used to have a day where the it would be B.A.R.F. Day for the elementary kids – they’d get rewarded for “Being A Real Friend.” It was really a blast! Sometimes I think it would be the world’s best job to work at Nickelodeon…