Bananas and Mustard

Trip to the Zoo!

The world according to NoNo, my 6 year old, is interesting.  Recently at a cookout we had a conversation that went like this:

Me: Do you want mustard?

NoNo: Mom you know I don't like bananas.

I didn't know exactly how to respond.  He was very serious.

My daughter: Mustard doesn't come from bananas!  

NoNo: Heelloooo...they both are yellow!

Of course after a few seconds of complete confusion, we all laughed!

This is just the latest of the reasoning and logic from my sweet boy.  On a much anticipated school trip to the zoo, he explained that flamingos are noisy because they are telling jokes and laughing. He sees that clouds are white and fluffy, so they must taste like ice cream.  Peas are not his favorite and to avoid eating them he explains that they make him "fall down on the floor" or faint.

He takes his small amount of  knowledge and fills in the holes with imagination. He is not aware of all of the information that he does not know and  has yet to be exposed. Simply put, he doesn't know what he doesn't know. He makes many imaginary conclusions when explaining his world.

As I have these conversations with him, I can't help but think that we do the same thing with our world. We take the little knowledge we possess and fill in the holes with whatever makes us feel good.  We avoid indulging in God's word to know His truth.  Is it possible that we don't seek his view because it may shut down ours and we would then have to be held accountable to another standard? We stand by this misinformation to the point that we ferociously defend it and attack those who question. 

 ^"Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God’s fool—that’s the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It’s written in Scripture: He exposes the chicanery of the chic.

The Master sees through the smoke screens

  of the know-it-alls." I Corinthians 3:19 (The Message)

NoNo is 6 and eventually his world of superheros, talking animals and happy endings will fade. Mustard will come from mustard plant seeds and clouds will be a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals. His imagination will be replaced with reason and more information. Like many parents, his father and I are

trying to  make sure that he fills in his lack of understanding with a knowledge that results from transitioning into the truth of God's word and finishing his homework!

What are we doing to fill in the holes of our lack of knowledge? How do we explain our world? Wouldn't it be a tragedy that as we got older our lives continue to be governed by our imaginations and the fickleness of our feelings? 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

By the way, NoNo still has to finish his peas. He hasn't fainted yet. :-)

Blessings!




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