I think I’m going to author a new book called “Things My Only Granddaughter Says”. My granddaughter is named Emerson and on March 3rd of this year she will turn six years old! The reason I know this is because she tells me that almost every day! “Pops…I’m not 5…I’m “almost 6”. And so, with that pronouncement I can no longer say she is 5 but must announce to everyone within earshot that she is officially “almost six”!
Somewhere I have read that words are powerful because words are the tool we use to create and shape our reality. Well, if that is the case, Emerson is not only an expert at shaping who she is, but also an expert in shaping her “Pops”…her favorite name for me!
Let me give you a couple of examples. The other day we were going to do a big floor puzzle and as we were scattering the pieces on the floor, Emerson put her hand out in a “Stop” motion and then said, “d, “Wait here, Pops. I’ve got something for you”! And then she proceeded to go over to her house (just through the hallway) and when she came back she had a nice fluffy blanket. And in dramatic fashion she folded it up neatly, placed it on the floor right in front of me, and said, “There you go, Pops. This is for your knees. Kneel on this and it won’t hurt your knees.” And so I dutifully kneeled and then she said, “Do you know why you need that Pops?” And I said, “No, why?” and she said, “Pops, it’s because you are getting old, and old people have bad knees” By now Cyndy is bursting a gut, and I then ask the obvious. “Old, huh? Well just how old do you think your Pops is? Emerson didn’t miss a beat. “Pops, I hate to break it to you, but you are really, really old! Trust me, just use the blanket!”
Boy has Emerson become a truth teller! But for some reason, this truth coming from an “almost 6-year-old” who has actually acted compassionately towards me…is somehow so much easier to take. It’s softer in a way I just can’t explain. If that had been Cyndy I would have been hurt! But my little Emerson has made me realize that “getting old” isn’t so bad! I actually kind of like being old around her!
By the way, that “almost-6-yr-old wisdom is a steady flowing stream! On the Sunday when the children at Bear Creek put on their Christmas pageant, I was up front absolutely blown away by what the children of Bear Creek can do. So much joy and talent! Wow! But as I was listening I noticed that they weren’t singing up to their full capacity. I just knew they could sing out more! And so I caught Emerson’s eye and those around her and I did the age old trick of cupping my ear as a signal for Emerson and her friends to sing louder. And boy did they ever! They opened up their hearts and totally rocked the house! Afterwards I heard one of our Bear Creek faithful compliment Emerson on her singing. “Wow, Emerson, you can really sing! We could really hear you!” Again, Emerson didn’t miss a beat. “Yea,” she said, “my Pops is pretty hard of hearing so when I saw him cupping his ear so he could hear better, I sang louder. I wanted to make sure he could hear us!”
That Monday I made an appointment to get my hearing tested. I’ve known I might need to do that for a couple of years, but it took my sweet truth teller voice to get me to respond.
And so I thank God for not so little “almost 6-yr-olds, like Emerson, who can’t help but tell it like it is! And I say good for Emerson! Because let’s face it, the world, and especially her Pops, could use a little softly delivered truth.
The real question is, will I be able to take it when she’s almost-16! God, give me a gentle heart!
What I’ve learned from all of this is that the truth can not only be helpful, but kind of fun. Emerson has helped me realize that I’m not “young” anymore, and that instead of fighting that fact, I can learn, instead, to accept it and maybe even embrace it (that might be stretching it a bit). But even more, I can learn to laugh at this part of me. Emerson has taught me how to look at myself in a mirror through her eyes. She loves her Pops and because of that her Pops can learn to paint himself with a little more grace and laughter than he ever has.
Jesus tell us that we can’t really come to God unless we come to God as a child. Could this “almost-6-yr-old’s combination of truth and gentleness be what Jesus was talking about?
In the meantime, I’m just going to sit back and hit record, and get ready to write that book. Because I have a feeling that all of those words of wisdom and truth from my “almost-six-year-old” might just come in handy down the road.
Your friend and pastor, enjoying the soft prayer blanket under my knees, Brook