We moved in, as they moved out.
Our intersection was a small breezeway between two double doors. Mary and I were with Rowan, our 18-month-old grandson. The two individuals coming toward us were not with their grandson, but rather an enormous dog.
We met in the middle. Spontaneous in its origin, the encounter was laced with lots of potential outcomes.
Rowan was fully bundled, having just experienced an hour of fresh Colorado mountain air. He looked like a blue marshmallow as he trudged.
Dog met boy before adults could respond. Boy met dog without intervention.
Twenty pounds of boy, met 170 pounds of canine.
Without a flinch. Without hesitation. Without fear. Rowan entered in.
Tail wagged and collisions happened. Hand patted on the massive landscape of a brown back.
Joy, unsolicited, unscripted delight.
Then eye level licks; more delight; but no intimidation.
Overmatched and unfamiliar, Rowan invaded. He embraced without measurement. He celebrated without constraint.
Less than five minutes and it was over; but not really. Joy lingered. Smiles returned as the story was recounted.
The lesson is lasting.
Massively overmatched, but unafraid. Fear would have robbed Rowan of his exuberance.
Fear would have been completely understandable… in fact, terror would have been explainable. But there was none of that.
Only embrace. Only confidence. Only a full speed entrance ramp to delight.
Nothing was going to rob Rowan. Nothing.
And it was contagious. It was infectious. It was a classroom… right in that little breezeway between two double doors.
Opportunity met unconstrained embrace.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)
No fear. Pure delight.
In the classroom of an 18-month-old.
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