Editorial March 6, 1989 Issue

Emerging spirituality and Christian healing

Michael D. Rissler

Do you know those times when you're looking for something you haven't seen in a long while and you have to dig into closets or trunks that haven't been touched for months? Well, every once in a while, when I'm on one of those searches, I come across a school yearbook from junior high school days. And my search is usually halted for a few minutes while I flip through the pages and take another look at long-ago friends and classmates.

There's a recurring experience that fascinates me each time I look at the pictures of those youngsters. I remember, when I was with them in school, there seemed to be such wide divergence in their appearances. Some seemed much more handsome or pretty than others. There were gentle people and then there were the "tough" ones. The differences seemed all-important and just as formidable (and, at times, as threatening) as high, well-guarded walls. One's own social position in school often seemed tenuous and frequently just on the verge of assault—either emotionally or physically.

But now, when I look through those pictures from a position of greater experience, parenthood, and understanding—with the fears long removed—I am amazed at how gentle and innocent and nonthreatening nearly every youngster looks to me. Yes, I know kids can do crazy and harmful things at that age, and I know the threats we often felt to our own well-being and happiness were not all imagined. But I know that if I could have seen something more of the goodness I now see in those faces, I would have been in a much better position to confront the challenges of those years.

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