Is that possible? Can we go back to a time with no worries and no fear, no doubts and no loneliness? A time before expectation and disappointment, before failure and falling short? Can we return to a time before we realized that the world was not safe, to a time when nothing had happened to mar our faith in humanity or in God?
We can't time travel and we can't go back into our mother's womb to be reborn--all mothers everywhere thank God for that!
But...rewind to innocence...
Can we be, once again, like a newborn baby turning her head toward her mother's breast to nurse for the first time? With no instruction, she knows what she needs and how to get it. She is safe in her mother's arms, not the least concerned by the whirlwind all around her.
A small child just learning to walk tries and tries and tries again, determined to master this new skill. But why? No one told him he had to...it's simply something he was created to do. Is it possible to live as if we can do amazing and unimaginable things simply because we exist?
The world around us is in a constant state of renewal, regeneration, rebirth. Why should we, as part of that creation, be any different? Like the changing seasons, we experience at different times colorful metamorphosis, inner transformation, invigorating breakthrough and full-bloom growth.
1 Peter 5, from the Message version of the Bible, says, "Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you."
This verse conjures the very picture of innocence to me: a child dancing with abandon, basking in the smile on her Father's face. She is confident in his love and approval. She is safe and secure in his presence.
Rewind to innocence.
Is that possible? No. And yes. We can never go back to the innocence we had before, but we can experience innocence anew as we are continually made new.
