And yet, and yet…

For Thanksgiving this year, our family stayed out in the woods outside of Arkadelphia, AR. It was a beautiful spot, secluded, quiet, and with a ton of trees. My three year old (like any reasonable three year old) upon seeing the trees and the hills and the lake below, decided he’d take off at a full-bore run.

After about four bounds, he fell flat on his face. Dad of the year over here (i.e. me) who was walking a ways behind him asked “Hey, you OK buddy?” Any other human being that had done a bellyflop face-first into the forest floor would probably have some choice words for a question like that, and maybe a tear or six. And yet, when I asked him, he said, “I’m OK daddy,” and immediately sprung up and took off at a run again.

One of the cool things about the forest floor is that there is usually a nice bed of pine needles covering everything. While it’s a nuisance on a deck or a car or a road, on a forest ground it makes a nice soft pillow for a plummeting three year old.

As adults, we start to forget the draw of the woods. For caution, for comfort, for safety, we look out at the oceans of trees and opt to stay in the porch light, in the air conditioning. We think, “But what about the hidden roots and rocks? What about the snakes and the ticks? What about the dangers that we do not see?” But kids, when they see the shadows laced across the patchwork forest, when they hear the whisper of the beckoning breeze, take off. They know that adventure and beauty are in the trees, and that there’s no time to stroll. It’s time to run.

In seasons, we may be tempted to hold off when confronted with the beauty of the deep. We may want to choose the tears, to choose the safe, to comfort the fear. But kids know better.

And those pine needles are for kids.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in faithfulness. Psalm 96:11-13