Hope and a gaggle of girls | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Warm spring afternoons bring the neighborhood children out to play. Laughter rings out and bikes are everywhere in the cul-de-sac, almost like it's Daytona. Sunset comes later and later these days, and the rituals of summer are alive even in this month that is still early spring.

    Author Robert Benson asks the question, "Where do you want to be when the sun goes down?" We have lived that answer on porches and decks, facing west with a glass of wine and pleasant conversation for almost 58 years. This is the place where the neighborhood children came to visit. In the late afternoon sun, a gaggle of girls stands at the back gate. One of them, now nine years old, is tall enough to lift the latch on the gate.

    We hear a small voice call out, "Can we come in and see your flowers?" We have interesting flowers, but they mostly want to see if the pool is open. Regardless of the reason, there is welcome for this gaggle of girls. Now they are laughing their joy and skipping down the brick path to where we are sitting. "Those red blooms on the bushes are camellias. The little yellow flowers are winter jasmine. The little purple flowers that are so fragrant are daphne." The girls hear and nod with glee. This little back yard soiree is glad even in the budding of spring.

    Conversation turns to other things. School and teachers. Homework and who has had the flu. Details of ordinary childhood days are shared like a summit of world leaders. There is talking, and a good dose of listening to the stories of children. What are their hopes? What are their dreams?

    They want to sing again with the little guitar strumming songs that are familiar to them. They want to learn about music and hear stories of the olden days. They want to know our age and why we come out in the afternoons to watch the sunset. "Look up at the sky," we say. "Soon you will begin to see the stars come out. You can make a wish on the first star you see. Look at that little sliver of moon. If you look every night, you can see it grow and grow, then disappear for a few days. Look at the vapor trails of the airplanes. See how big the sky is, even in the city. Wonder where those people are going?"

    They marvel as if they have never seen the sky like this. One of the older ones says, "You know the airplanes are really flying on this side of the moon, don't you?" (a little taste of rational thought amidst the delight of wondering.) They marvel that even in our little garden, a few flowers are showing off.

    Too soon, gaggles of girls and all of us outgrow many of the delights of wonder and marvel. We want answers instead of questions. We want to know, as if we ever really can. Part of the spiritual journey we all are called to is to become children again - gaggles of girls and boys - to enter mystery and marvel in that realm of all that is unknown to us. "Behold, I tell you a mystery," Jesus says. When we set our minds on temporary things, we deny grace.

    I wish all the decision makers could sit on my back deck with the gaggle of girls from my neighborhood and remember again the call to hold question and mystery in the great grace we are offered through faith. Open the gate to joy and delight for all God's children and live with wonder the gifts that are ours in this world. Err on the side of grace.

    When the story of us is written, will history record that entrenchment and ideology separated us? Or will we write a new song, one born in hope and watered in love. Who do we want to be when the sun goes down? Let us open the gate to a bigger, better way of being in the world.

    Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader and hosts the website: avirtualchurch.com. She welcomes comments at libcam05@gmail.com.