SENTINEL WATCH October 20, 2003 Issue

The two sides of innocence

By Richard A. Nenneman

CAN CHILDLIKE INNOCENCE, and even wonder, be recaptured? Can you experience it even as an adult? Most definitely yes, if you understand its true nature.

The word innocence is derived from the Latin word for "harm," and innocence in its purest sense means protection from harm. While innocence is often attributed to a state of childhood, this is perhaps because children traditionally have been considered to be ignorant of the larger challenges of the world that could be harmful to them.

Consider the Bible story of Daniel in the lions' den. Because Daniel had defied an order of the king, which he could not in good conscience carry out, he was thrown into the lions' den. Yet the king loved him, and came early the next morning to see if somehow Daniel was still alive. He was! And Daniel's explanation was that God had shut the lions' mouths, "forasmuch as before him [God] innocency was found in me" (Dan. 6:22). The moral of the story indicates that we are protected from harm to the extent that we are living in obedience to what we understand God's will, or commands, to be. And, over the centuries, this moral has strengthened countless people in their resolve to be true to their highest sense of right.

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