Over the
years, our daycare has introduced me to a few autistic children. They have added
a fascinating element to our lives, and I trust that I am a good student of
what they are here to teach me.
This morning I
was having some fun with one of these little ones by taking up our fabric
tunnel, and stretching it between us so we could see each other. There was an
immediate relational connection to this that surprised and delighted me. We
shared a few minutes of fun reaching through the tunnel, laughing, squeezing it
down over him, and then over me. When I put the tunnel back down on the floor,
he crawled inside and spent the next twenty minutes playing there, complete
with giggles every time one of us bent down and looked at him. He even posed
for my pictures!
Afterwards I
was wondering what made this so special to him. At first, I thought that maybe
it was because the tunnel closed off all the other distractions so that he had
no problem focusing only on me. Then I realized that maybe it was more likely
that the tunnel closed off all other distractions so that I had no problem
looking only at him!
Whatever the
case, it made me think about how Jesus closed himself off from all the heavenly
glories so that he could relate to me in my humanity. Surely my sinful
condition would have seemed even more glaringly different from his glory than
autism seems to one who has all his faculties working in average condition.
After decades
of meeting with Jesus Christ in the mornings, it is not hard to see how he cut
himself off from the heavenly glories to come into our world in all the
limitations of a man. Perhaps my daily time with him is like him reaching down
through a heavenly tunnel in the hope that he can cut me off from all other
distractions so I can simply see and enjoy him.
Now, how do I
get another twenty minutes to play in this tunnel, and feel the joy of him
constantly looking at me with that strangely wonderful smile on his face?
From my heart,
Monte
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