Morning Friend,
While high atop the "giant" Ferris wheel at Tinkertown last week, it was brought to my oft-wavering attention by my three-year-old niece, God-daughter and "bestest buddy" Ashley, that "you can see the whole world from up here!".
As with many of her profound observations and those of my other two nieces; Angela 7 and Janelle 11, with whom I'd spent the thrill-filled day, I couldn't have agreed more.
Now there are certainly larger Ferris wheels in the world than Tinkertown's 30 foot high "horizon buster".
At the apex of the 443 foot London Eye which holds 800 people, one can see Windsor Castle...25 miles away.
The Singapore Flyer is 541 feet high, holds 784 passengers and boasts a view of parts of Malaysia and Indonesia....30 miles away.
The world's largest Ferris, or "observation wheel" is Beijing's Great Wheel. It is 682 feet high, holds 1920 people, takes a half hour to go around once, and from the top on a clear day you can see parts of the Great Wall of China....over 40 miles away.
Which is all fine and well I suppose for folks in those parts of the world with their apparent, and sadly limited perspective.
A child's perspective is not restrained by facts and figures.
A child's vision is not colored by societal conceptions.
A child's imagination is untroubled by comparative dimensions.
A child's interpretation of time and space can be representative of the boundaries of love and security and the quality of faith and trust in their lives.
If what they see, feel and hear on a daily basis are reinforcements of unconditional love, reaffirmations of God's unending Grace in their lives and reminders of their own unlimited worth, then a child's world becomes a borderless canvas upon which the palette of their imaginations may run wild.
Whoever it was who said "live each day like it was your last", could well have said "....like a joyous child at play!".
I have come to see, ( through ever-clarifying vision), that a child at play is like a joyous dream come to life.
And I am fairly awed by the love on which Janelle, Angela and Ashley are so exquisitely nurtured and the limitless imagination it inspires in them.
And I am immeasurably grateful to have felt the light of their love and the tremendous insight, humility and strength it inspires in me.
It is fear which limits a child.
It is disappointment which jades a child.
It is chaos which unravels a child.
It is darkness which extinguishes a child.
It was ( sister-in-law) Gwen's unfortunately broken leg which gave Mom, Dad and me the blessed opportunity to accompany "my girls" on their Tinkertown visit last week.
I'll admit to some preconceived disdain for the little "kids" amusement park just outside of town with "...the train that goes all around!", but since it was an annual family tradition that the girls were anticipating greatly, I readily agreed.
As so often happens when I am in their company, my not-quite-so "inner" child was reincarnated to the degree that I may have had as much fun or more than they did?
There are probably more than one person who was there who are still wondering about "those three lovely girls with that 6' 5" giddy galoot"?
Having Gramma and Grampa along turned out to be a wise idea in terms of structure and restraint!
No my friend, it's not Disneyland, or Three Flags, or The Ex, or even Wonder Shows.
But on that gloriously lovely day, "hanging out" with three of the most imaginatively ingenious, fanatically fun-loving, contagiously cool and beautifully blessed BLESSINGS that an Uncle could ask for, made it seem like the bestest one ever in the whole wide world!
A world which as I have previously stated, we could SEE....high above the clouds on the gigantic Ferris wheel.
I waved to those folks on the Great Wheel and some of them waved back!
...( kids probably).
love "tinker"-tImMy:/
Laugh as much as you breathe...
Love as long as you live ( giddily)
No comments:
Post a Comment