I’ve written several columns about my children. Most of them have featured the adventures my pre-teen daughter has set my little family upon. Today’s column, however, was inspired by my son, Colin.
Colin is a special kind of little boy. He’s smart. He’s friendly. Seriously, the kid has never met a person with whom he won’t speak. I’m convinced he’d speak to lamp post if left alone with one long enough. Ask any teacher my boy has ever had, and they’ll agree. The kid has a compassionate heart. In fact, he’s one of those rare people whose hearts seem so big it leaves you scratching your head wondering how such a big, giving heart could fit inside such a small frame. But perhaps his most endearing quality is that the kid questions everything.
He recently started binge watching every Marvel movie, show or YouTube clip he could find. He wanted comic books, color pages, video games, costumes and even socks. If something involved a superpower, this kid wanted it.
Along with this phase, came a non- stop barrage of questions.
“Mom, how can Superman fly? He’s not really flying, Mom. Don’t they understand he’s just jumping really hard?”
“Mom, who is your favorite Superhero? I like Ironman and Spiderman and Venom. Mom, Venom isn’t really a bad guy. He’s just a polite-but-deadly alien.”
“Mom, Batman and Ironman are basically the same guy. They’re just smart rich guys and don’t really have powers.” “Mom, who is your favorite superhero? What superpower do you want? I want to be super strong and crush things, you know, Mom?”
Well, it was that last question that really got me thinking. See, I question a lot of things too. Colin comes by it honestly, I assure you. So when he asked me what superpower I’d want, I told him, “I’d like to know what people are thinking.”
My line of thinking was that if I could ask a question and just be able to know thoughts, well, my job would a lot faster. I mean interviews would be a breeze, right? Ask the question and Bam! I’d know the thought and wouldn’t have to wait for the spoken answer.
But as I pondered on this, going further down the “rabbit hole”, I realized maybe I don’t want to know what people are thinking.
I mean imagine with me for a minute living in a world where you knew everything that everyone thought about you. I’m sure there would be surprises. There would beautiful thoughts from those who you never expected cared. There would be funny thoughts by people who you never knew their secret sense of humor. There would be flattering thoughts of respect by those who you, yourself, respected. But, there might be other thoughts too.
Imagine finding out thoughts of disappointment from loved ones. Thoughts of criticism when you were proud of your actions. Thoughts of rejection, hatred, dissatisfaction, contempt and lies.
When I realized a whole lot of ugliness would come with the benefits of being able to know another person’s mind, I changed mine.
See, I’m a bubble type of person. I had a very sheltered childhood and my family shielded me from a lot of unpleasantness that existed in the world. So I developed a bubble of naivety and general happiness. Well, despite over a decade in the newspaper business and exposure to countless stories of doom, gloom, crime, and despicable acts by others, I still genuinely trust people and believe they are good. I’m not sure I’d like knowing otherwise.
At the end of the day, at one point or another, we all tell “white lies” to protect loved ones. We justify it in our heads. Maybe it is or maybe it only leads to more questions. Similarly, we will all be a disappointment to another human being at some point, but we all are guilty of falling short of the glory of God. It’s human nature.
But that goes back to Colin’s question: What superpower do I want?
Truth is, I don’t want one. I’m glad I don’t have superhuman powers. I’ll just take a cue from my son and continue to ask the questions.
I guess, God knew what He was doing after all. He’s the only one equipped to truly know our hearts and minds.
