Sweet Dreams

After a day filled with complaining, crying, whimpering, random "peeps" and other things that make your child not as cute as they could be, they fall asleep and take your breath away at how precious and cute they are. Here are pictures of Will clutching his "softy"/"silky." He looks soooo innocent and untainted by all that is in the world. He feels safe and secure, armed only with a soft piece of fabric. [He does not have a blankie, woobie, or any other girlie-rag. It is just a sleeping aid like breathe-right strips or a dark-mask.] Watching him sleep makes me wish that a lot more of the world was innocent and untainted. Will doesn't loose sleep over things like work, mortgage payments, self-image, guilt, revenge, hurt feelings, regret, unattainable desires, etc. He has done nothing to hinder his sleep and he gives nothing the power to delay his sleep. He lives very much in the moment (which is probably why he fights against going to sleep). He will wake up in about eight hours with a big smile on his face for me and a readiness for new experiences. His conscience is clear and his heart is pure. Maybe that is why he looks so cute.

It's times like these that make me wish I were more like him. At one time we were all innocent and cute. For each of us there was a time, a singular event that changed how we saw the world forever more. As a youth minister, I can see the change from week to week. One week a little girl is sitting in your class who wants nothing more than to be a little girl. Innocence covers her face in a way that Revlon never will. Then the next week it is gone. It is like someone covered it up with this new face that looks pretty much the same, but something inexplicable and indefinable is gone. Something happened to them that week or they chose to cross a line and it vanished. Along with that innocence, sweet dreams slowly disappear. At first we don't know why, but the world looks different. After a while, we don't even notice a difference. But when we look at babies, especially whey they are sleeping, we remember once upon a time when we were like that. Inwardly, we decide that we will do everything in our power to keep this sleeping beauty just the way he is for as long as possible. We envy his sweet dreams. More importantly, we want to protect another's sweet dreams. And we wonder, could we ever be like that again? Hmmmmm....