His eyes were wide as we toured the buffet tables, hungry and eager to try everything. After the grand tour, he grabbed a plate and had to make the big decision of where to start.
He headed to the table with the heavy plate overcome with excitement. He tried this and that. We talked about what was good. What wasn't. What he should get more of. He started slowing down. Tried some deserts and then slowly rolled back in his chair with that post- Thanksgiving face staring up at a large TV on the wall. A few minutes later, he looked sick. He was almost in pain as we walked to the car. "Why didn't you tell me about this part. " he mumbled. I told him the stomach pain would ease, then he would get sleepy, then, surprisingly, he would get the munchies.
It's easy to go too far - work too much, sleep in too long, over eat. The meter slips from not enough to just a bit more to omg way too much in just a few bites. Andrew's naive 1st go round at the buffet is funny because we've all been there. I was cracking up all day watching him and pondering this near universal human experience.
It felt like a sermon. Such a clear simple peek into human nature.
By the time you reach my age, you've learned the ropes of a buffet place and generally manage to leave without quite so much pain (though you still don't want to have an honest review of the calories). As we get older, we learn both how to moderate and how to suppress bad feelings that come from overeating. We don't wear it on our sleeves quite the way Andrew did today.
Kids are such a great mirror. They are like the exaggerated version of all my inside feelings. Day didn't go right, lay down on the floor and have a full tantrum. Some one takes my toy, punch them in the face and take it back. There is an honesty to their human nature that makes it easy to see what needs correcting.
So we are taught.
I think we focus a lot on fixing behaviors so that we don't get in trouble rather than working on the root. I've definitely come a long way from where I was a a toddler but I'm still working on keeping my emotions in check, loving my neighbor as myself, sharing and saying nice things, taking care of nature and cleaning up messes that I make.... and remembering not to eat so much that it hurts if I go to a really good buffet.
God, help me see myself simply. Help me to recognize my inner child and show her grace. Help me to work on my inside as much as I work on the outside so I can be transparent as a child.
Amen.
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