Article January 21, 1991 Issue

No trees in the swimming pool!

Janis L. Hale Kitzis

Sometimes, a child's innocent question can impel us to ponder deeper spiritual issues and to gain new inspiration. I had such an experience about five years ago. It taught me an important lesson about the true spiritual nature of man, which eventually led to a physical healing for my preschool-age daughter.

My daughter and a friend were playing in our backyard. I was close by and could hear their conversation. I was surprised when the little visitor pointed to the family swimming pool and asked, "How did those trees get in the water?" I had to smile when I looked at the pool and saw the reflection of some tall ponderosa pine trees that were growing in the neighbor's yard. The images appeared to extend down into the water just as far as the actual trees extended up into the air. I explained that there weren't actually any trees in the water. "You can tell that they are not real trees," I said, "because they're upside down." The children accepted my explanation and soon forgot the incident.

Later, however, I thought again of this conversation. Naturally I had not been fooled by the seemingly upside-down trees. But I wondered if I was being deceived at times by another kind of "inverted image"—the belief that man is a material mortal, subject to all types of moral and physical weaknesses. Or, I asked myself, was I rejecting the inversion and insisting on the true view of man as the spiritual and perfect offspring of God, infinite good?

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