Dance of the Innocents

I closed my eyes as the gifted fingers of our pianist brought to life "Amy's Lullaby." With the world around me shut off I envisioned the lullaby. Jesus is standing on a hillside covered in a blanket of daisies. To his right the hillside slopes away and the flowers converge into a blanket of white, as bright as the purest snowfall. The daisies seem to be dancing as a gentle wind moves up the hillside. Up to his knees in the dancing and waving of the petals Jesus is smiling. He is not grinning or cracking a little smile, like one who is trying to be restrained or respectful. He is smiling with his mouth open wide, for all the world to see.

As the breeze moves and the petals dance I am captivated by the sound of giggles and laughter. It is the laughter of children, the music of the soul, giggles and squeaks, and the beautiful blending of the glee of boys and girls. Up the hillside they come, some running, some skipping, some falling and tumbling in the field of dancing flowers. Jesus is standing there with his arms outstretched, with such a smile that he is expecting all of the children to jump into his arms.

As the children run and dance and skip their way up the hill they take no notice of the language, color or clothing of their partner in the dance. There is no language in laughter, for it is universal, there is no disdain of clothes for all are wearing the same white, white as bright as the snow, the same white that Jesus is standing in. Theirs are the colors of every nation and every tribe that has ever graced the earth.

As they dance and laugh I can sense that these precious children are the Innocents. Fragile and helpless sons and daughters of the land. Innocent ones taken from the earth, from the arms of their mothers and the sheltering strength of their fathers. Taken by the evil design of men. Taken by the greed and envy and lust of those whose hearts are consumed with the thirst of power and rule.

Many of the dancing Innocents move towards Jesus and I can tell by the purity of their smile that they are laughing and dancing by the grace of God, as their lungs never filled and their feet never felt the earth. I know as a certainty that these that are dancing the Dance of the Innocents are so happy to see Jesus. They feel his embrace, their spirit, innocent and free does not sense the wrong that has been done and wish for the day that all mankind will join them in the Dance of the Innocents.

Staring Trout

Larry hollered over at Al and told him to drop the tailgate on Old Gettem-Up and get the plates and cups ready. Al got the plates ready and brought them over to the fire, setting them on the crate. Larry announced, “The best a man can eat will be ready in a minute.” Then he turned over the redskins and set the pan back. He turned over the trout and mumbled to himself, something about life, the river and food. The rest, neither of the men understood.

            “Grab a plate and enjoy,” Larry announced.  Ray and Al must not have been paying really close attention to the master chef as he utilized his culinary genius over the fire. When Al, plate in hand, was getting ready for his trout his surprise was evident. “What in the world did you do?” he said. “They still have their head. How we supposed to eat fish that are still looking at us?”

Larry started to laugh so hard he choked and had to take his pipe out of his mouth. Coughing out, “They may be staring, but they ain’t seeing. That’s the way we serve trout up here. You’re respecting his contribution to your life when you have to look him in the eye.” By this time Ray was laughing so hard he started to cough. Between the laughing and coughing tears were running down Ray’s cheeks. He said, almost choking, “I guess if it was up to a vote the eyes would have it.” In a second all three men were laughing, at each other, the trout and their sightless stare.

Al meets Nuttin and Butta

“Ok Willie,” Bill said, “Let’s get the hounds out and get started,” Willie opened the first door on the kennel and put a long leather lead on the first dog. Before he could even move to the second door the freed hound was pulling and tugging. With the lead on the second hound Willie reined them in and took them over to the abandoned car. Bill, about ten yards away, yelled at Willie, “Hey Willie, how bout you introducing your hounds to our members of the press.” In an instant Willie shot back, “All right, make fun of my hounds, but they are the best in the north.” And, Bill shot right back, “Cause they are the only blood hounds in the north.”

 Turning to Al and Ray, Willie said, “Now don’t make fun of my dogs. Both are males cause they have the best nose.” Pulling the larger of the two away from the car, Willie said, “The big boy here, he is Nuttin, the other boy, he is Butta.” Ray couldn’t contain himself and his barrel chest laugh echoed down the river. He replied, “I’ve heard it all, here we are a stone’s throw from Canada and we have a southern boy with hounds named, Nuttin and Butta.”

Willie announced, “I’m gonna let the boys work loose. That way I don’t have to keep up with em. Gonna let em get the scent from the car and let em go work.” Al asked, “Mind if I go along with you? I would love to watch Nuttin Butta.”