Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Teaching Nonviolent Atonement

Home
Progressive Christian
Parenting, Paddle Boards, and Balancing Faith

Parenting, Paddle Boards, and Balancing Faith

Last updated on: September 4, 2014 at 9:31 am by Adam Ericksen

Parenting, Paddle Boards, and Balancing Faith 2014-09-02T16:43:55-05:00 Adam Ericksen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My child learning to paddle board.

My family recently went on a vacation to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Coeur D’Alene is a city in northern Idaho that is not only impossible to spell, but it nestles upon against an impossibly beautiful lake where my aunt and uncle own a gorgeous home.

I had a great time playing in the water with my three children. We swam, rode a paddle boat, and played in the sand. All safe and fun activities that were perfect for my 7, 6, and 4 year old children.

But then my aunt did the unthinkable! As I was a hundred feet away relaxing on her dock, she hoisted my seven year old on her paddle board!

“No!” I thought to myself. “He’s not ready! He’s too young!”

I’d never been on a paddle board before. I’d only seen others stand on the surfboard-like structure as they paddle across a lake or river. When I lived in Chicago, I’d see people standing on them paddling on Lake Michigan. Some friends with experience paddle boarding told me that it takes a tremendous amount of balance and skill to stay afloat on a paddle board. And, well, I’m a klutz. So I assume my offspring are klutzes.

Hence, my fear.

I resisted the temptation to scold my aunt for her reckless behavior with my children, and it’s a good thing I did. They loved the paddle board! Apparently, the Ericksen klutz gene skips a generation. They each stood securely on the board and paddled with perfect rhythm to the lake’s beating waves.

Mimetic Theory, Un-Learning fear, and Learning Joy

Mimetic theory claims that we learn through imitation of our models. This seems obvious enough. It’s easy to see how my aunt taught my children how get on the paddle board, balance on it, and paddle their way on the lake. But they learned something much more important from my aunt about paddle boarding than the technique – they learned it was something to enjoy.

Now, if I had given into my trepidation and yelled across the dock, I would have taught my children that paddle boarding wasn’t something to enjoy; rather, it was something to fear.

But my aunt taught them that paddle boards were something to enjoy.

Parents spend much of our time fearing for our children. We worry that they aren’t ready yet and that they’ll get hurt. Not only do we hold them back, but we teach them that they should live in fear.

In fact, parents have a tendency to project our own fears and anxieties upon our children. Children learn how to fear the world and be anxious from us. But they can also learn how to enjoy the world from us.

Mimetic Theory and Faith

This is where faith comes in. Faith is not forcing our intellect to believe certain doctrines. Rather, faith is the ability to trust in someone else. For example, my aunt had faith that might children could ride the paddle board. My children absorbed her faith in them, and thus had faith in themselves that they could not only do it, but enjoy it.

When it comes to the faith of Jesus, Christians tend to emphasize his faith in the Father. Jesus trusted that the Father was pure, unadulterated, nonviolent, self-giving love. As their model, Jesus’ disciples learned from him that they had nothing to fear from God because God is perfect love and “perfect love casts out fear.”

The fact that we don’t have to fear God because of Jesus’ faith in God’s nonviolent love is important and life changing. But we tend to miss another aspect of Jesus’ faith that is just as important and life changing:

Jesus has faith in us.

Jesus’ faith in us is reckless and astonishing – some might even call his faith in us heretical. After all, Jesus said that his followers “will also do the works that I do and, in fact, do greater works than these, because I am going to the father.”

We will do greater works than Jesus? I must admit, I don’t know exactly what to make of that statement. To say that Jesus’ disciples will do greater works than saving the world from sin and death sound at least borderline heretical. But my experience at the lake gave me some insight.

Jesus’ faith that we would “do greater works than these” opens his disciples to a non-anxious, non-rivalrous, and non-fearful relationship with him. Even the best of teachers can fall into a rivalry with their students. There comes a point where a student becomes better than a teacher. The teacher, living in fear of being upstaged by the student, attempts to hold the student back with phrases like, “You aren’t ready! You are too young!”

But Jesus had no fear. His faith was in the Father, whose perfect love drives out fear and rivalry. He also had faith in us, we who frequently get faith and life and love wrong. And yet, there is Jesus, putting us back on the paddle board when we fall, constantly teaching us to unlearn fear and rivalry and to learn to have faith in him who has faith in us.

Previous Post

September 2, 2014

Has Jesus Forgiven John Lennon’s Killer?

Next Post

September 9, 2014 From 9/11 to ISIS: Resolving the Paradox of the US War on Terror

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement and Current Events Curriculum Faith and Families Interviews Jesus the Forgiving Victim Lent Montessori politics Reviews The Bible Explained Uncategorized Valentine's Day Wednesday Sermon Who is God?

Select a Month July 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz