Exploring Our World as Children

 

Now every year [Jesus'] parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.  Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.”

Luke 2:41-47 (NRSV)

Last Sunday I led worship in Algonquin Park, a long-standing tradition of holding an outdoor service for campers. It was my first time in this role and also the first time we've camped in a trailer in one of Ontario's wonderful parks. We are accustomed to tenting, often in the backcountry but the trailer is provided for those who lead worship.

We joked about being in Suburbia in the Pines, given the density of huge trailers and RVs throughout the Lake of Two Rivers campground. The birds vied to make themselves heard amidst the din of air-conditioning units on these suckers, along with the regular bleating of car alarms -- who invented that monstrosity?

We did love those towering pines and proximity to trails and waterways which were far less hectic. And we enjoyed seeing kids of all ages roaming around the campground on bikes and on foot, often in happy packs. They were usually on their own, without the supervision of adults. Sometimes they fell down or got separated from their buddies. They got back up again and were reunited with the gang. It seemed so healthy, and reminded us of our childhoods. We were Free Range children in a time when that was just childhood, without a label.

While we were communing with the deerflies, Kim Brooks offered an opinion piece in the New York Times about the hyper-vigilance we have developed regarding our children. She allowed her child to sit in their car for a few minutes on a cool day. The doors were locked but the windows were slightly open. He played a video game in her absence and all was well, except that someone took a video of her son, then called 911. On her return she was charged with the delinquency of a minor. In reflecting of the experience Brooks offered this:

We now live in a country where it is seen as abnormal, or even criminal, to allow children to be away from direct adult supervision, even for a second...And so now children do not walk to school or play in a park on their own. They do not wait in cars. They do not take long walks through the woods or ride bikes along paths or build secret forts while we are inside working or cooking or leading our lives.

 

The response to this piece came from around the world with people from everywhere including Sweden, and Israel, and Germany, puzzled over this obsession with creating a bubble of protection for children which does not exist to the same extent in their countries.

Of course it is necessary to protect kids, and tragedies can occur. For the first time ever I read of a child killed by a vehicle in a provincial park over the weekend. Sadly,it may have been the family vehicle which caused the death. We should not that there were also deaths of children who were seat-belted into vehicles.


There is simply no way to guarantee absolute health and safety, no matter how conscientious we might be, even though that this may be our desire. We need to weigh out the benefits of allowing children to explore the beauty of Creation, to develop a sense of wonder and appreciation against the possible risks. 

Scripture tells us that Jesus was Free Range himself and even his parents had their moments of anxiety. Did anyone call the authorities on them, I wonder? I wish we had more images of boy Jesus kicking around in the woods and -gulp- messing with carpentry tools!