seeking simplicity

we are grown but cannot see

lost our world of make believe

simple times now seem so far

used to be in my backyard

yeah, the world was still in my backyard

we are okay, joshua radin

when i was a young boy, the world was wide and wondrous. i grew up near a lake and woods and i played in and around them most every day. i spent a great deal of time with my friends rusty and david. they were brothers and they lived on the lake. their front, side and back yards were huge! their back yard sloped down, it seemed for miles, to the lake. their side yard was covered in kudzu and also sloped down to a wooded cove that led into a deepr wood. we spent so much time exploring these magical areas, teeming with plant and animal life that was familiar, yet thrilling, even exotic, when stumled upon: frogs, lizards, worms, bugs and fish, even the occaisional snake! cottontails, beaverdams, blackberries and tall pines scattered and clustered in and around the coves and curves of the lakeshore.


every day was discovery and imagination working the wonder out in young boy minds that knew the time-told stories related in more structured and closed environments, our homes, school and churches. but here, around the lake and in the woods behind rusty and david's house, we pretended and we lived them out. daniel boone tracking through the cumberland gap, a trail leading from our woods to the lake. the alamo, a hastily built fort of small logs and rocks. moses in the wilderness, we planted and pushed from our carefully selected stick-staffs, following a puffy white cloud in a blue carolina sky. david and goliath, choosing smooth stones near a creek bed to throw and sling at behemoth trees. we fought every war our mother country had endured in those woods and on the shores. we took sack lunches and traded sandwiches; pioneer food and last meals on a deserted island. it was pilgrims landing and explorer's blazing and never was any day the same as the one before. the world was so big and yet we still made it back to their backyard before supper, before dark. a world of make believe, so real to me.


i like to listen to joshua radin's music. he is another of the singer-songwriters who craft their art around the everyday and common experience of us all. he is a gifted poet with a boyish voice and folksy style, a la paul simon. radin's song, we are okay, takes me back to the world i knew that extended from rusty and david's backyard. the lake and woods seemed boundless then, limited only by my imagination which ran full and free. and like in radin's song, i can identify with having lost our world of make believe. when did it happen? i'm in the midst of my fifth decade of life and the realities therein can be all too stark, indifferent at best and harrowing at their worst. daily duties and demands often dull a once vibrant imagination. life is difficult. life is complex.

so the boy who once fought every evil foe imaginable in the tall woods around a lake, now fights the complexity of life, ever seeking the simplicity of younger years. sometimes, sheepishly, i avoid the fight all-together, but most of the time i cannot, and i find myself battling in the midst and through the complexity and confusion of a world that has lost its way. this fight is not for the faint of heart and i confess, i am prone to be afraid at times. it seems to me that radin speaks to this in the chorus of the song,

But, we are okay, we are alright we sing very loud, yeah, we're singing we are okay, we are alright close our eyes, close our mouth yeah, we shut our eyes though we're in doubt.

i understand his sentiment; at times i do it, but such response feels no more assuring to me than whistling in the dark. in life's fight, i am learning that i need all my faculties and senses about me. we are grown but cannot see. a war is going on each day and the enemy is subtle, wily and seductive. each inch of ground, each soul of humanity is at stake in this world. needing great courage to stay in it, and a guiding helper to not be of it, i cannot close my eyes. instead, i must fix them intently on the one who saves me in the fight and ultimately out of the fight. he is the savior! he is jesus christ. and in him the complexity of a sinful world disintegrates and the simplicity of the life he gives opens my eyes and heart to his brilliant glory. i often find myself lost in wonder, love and praise. a foretaste of a grace-given life to come.

so, i press on through the complexity of a world that futily tries to darken the shine of the glorious light. the darkness and drabness is real and expansive. yet moments come without warning and the wild light breaks through in captivating radiance and the simple wonder returns. in the light i discover simple faith. simple hope. simple love.

I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.- Oliver Wendell Holmes

the wonder and thrill of my younger years that i found with my friends just beyond their backyard was simple and meaningful, the raw material of who i am becoming. however, those experiences and memories had to be confronted by the crucible of a warring and complex world. when they met, i admit, i lost the wonder and my imagination dulled and began to decay. but the redeemer of my days, my life, my soul, reached down and touched me, saved me from myself and the power of this world. now with eyes wide open, i continue in the battle, each day one day closer to simplicity the other side of complexity. wonder and imagination returning and pointing me to his presence. and so, i'm seek the simplicity found in jesus in this world. it's not the make believe variety of my youth. no, this is real life led by him with glimpses of a world to come.