eyes like a child

I just had an epiphany regarding receiving things like a child. Acabo de terminar (As I poured out my thoughts via my fingertips, the Spanish phrase came to mind before the English, so I went with it. Now I will leave it because Spanish is a beautiful language, and need not be edited out. I will simply translate it "I just finished") watching a YouTube video of a Brazillian pop song. The video is composed entirely of clips of beautiful and unique people talking, dancing and enjoying life, while singing about love. As I watched for the second time, I was startled by how different this viewing experience was from my first viewing experience.  When I first watched the video, I was captivated. I took in every detail, the people, their faces, their actions, their expressions, their emotions. The second time I watched, everything seemed to move much quicker, almost like I was watching on fast forward. It seems strange that I was able to observe so much in the first viewing. Then I realized that as I watched the second time, I was constantly scanning for the familiar things, the things that I remembered most clearly, the things that stuck out the most. I had already formed an idea of what I would see in the video, so I looked for those specific things. In doing so, I was looking through the images on the screen, waiting for the next thing I remembered, the next familiar thing. I ended up completely disregarding about 60% of the video while constantly anticipating those parts I remembered. The first time I watched the video I saw so much more, I felt so much more - I noticed colors, surroundings, expressions, emotions, body language, hair styles, clothing, eye color, facial features, age, socio-economic status, joy, sorrow...

     Immediately after identifying the change in the way I perceived the video, my mind went in this direction - children experience life as I experienced the video the first time I watched it. Everything is new and fresh. They take in everything - and there are a million things to take in: colors, patterns, textures, emotions, body language, words, tones, smells, sounds, scenery. Children are constantly taking in so much, constantly making hundreds, even thousands, of observations. They aren't searching for familiar things or anticipating the next thing because they don't know what is familiar or what will come next. Nothing is routine. Everything is new. What a beautiful way to live. How much richer is a child's experience than that of an adult presumes to know, and settles into routines, categories, expectations...

"and he said, 'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children,

 you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Whoever humbles himself as this child,

 he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 18:3-4

I think this is a part of what Jesus was talking about...