Take Me Outside is Gospel?

Our son posted photos of his two sons, ages three and five, on the weekend, and I couldn't have been happier. In them they are outside, enjoying an Autumn day, and they seem in their element. Our older daughter regularly shares pictures of her one-year-old as they ramble around their country property. She tries to get outdoors daily, which is wonderful. Our granddaughter has delighted at the sight of leaves and flowers and the sounds of birds since she was only a few months old. Whenever we can we are involved in getting all three grandchildren outdoors, whether its walking or paddling or playing in parks.

Today is Take Me Outside Day in Canada and the goal is to get a quarter million kids out there for at least an hour of activity. According to the non-profit's literature: "It is a day to highlight the importance of unplugging and spending time outside, being active and connecting with nature. It’s also a time to play and have fun in the fresh air."

This is an excellent initiative, particularly in a time when studies show that all Canadians, including children are less inclined to go outside, even though polls show that we generally believe that it benefits us.

There just isn't much about the young Jesus in the New Testament, other than his choice to stay behind in Jerusalem with temple teachers when the pilgrimage caravan set out for home in Nazareth. It stands to reason, though, that he spent much of his early life rambling the countryside. The gospels do tell us that the adult Jesus chose to step away from the demands of ministry to pray in the quiet of the countryside.

I hope there is some opportunity for you to get outside today. Here is a story from the quirky, anti-Semitic, non-canonical Infancy Gospel of Thomas. While we should take it with a shaker full of salt, it does invite us to imagine Jesus in the natural world.

When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream. (2) He was collecting the flowing water into ponds and made the water instantly pure. He did this with a single command. (3) He then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows. He did this on the sabbath day, and many other boys were playing with him.
(4)But when a Jew saw what Jesus was doing while playing on the sabbath day, he immediately went off and told Joseph, Jesus' father: "See here, your boy is at the ford and has taken mud and fashioned twelve birds with it, and so has violated the sabbath."
(5)So Joseph went there, and as soon as he spotted him he shouted, "Why are you doing what's not permitted on the sabbath?"
(6)But Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: "Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!" And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily.
(7)The Jews watched with amazement, then left the scene to report to their leaders what they had seen Jesus doing.