A Second Innocence

The poet and philosopher John O’Donohue really gets at this for me when he writes about what he calls a second innocence. This innocence is different from the first innocence we have as children. That innocence is based on naive trust.

 The second innocence can be developed only later in life when you lived deeply. Only after you’ve experienced the underside of life. You know its incredible capacity to disappoint and sometimes destroy. Yet, in spite of that, somehow you are still able to maintain a deeper sense of hope – and even joy. That is the second kind of innocence our faith can help us develop. 

O’Donohue writes this, “It is lovely to meet an old person whose face is deeply lined, a face that has been deeply inhabited, to look into the eyes and find light there. That light is not inexperienced but rather innocent in its trust in the good and the true and the beautiful. Such a gaze from an old face is a kind of blessing. 

When I read this, I couldn’t help but think about my friend Jim Campbell, who died earlier this year. I always thought of him as the mayor of his retirement community. We went to lunch once a month for years, and he always had a big smile and a great sense of humor. He was very generous, and ever-joking – gently poking fun. After lunch, we would visit people in the skilled nursing area, and Jim always wanted to offer the prayer. Unless he told you, you’d never know that Jim had outlived his wife, and had buried three of his four children as adults. They died in separate but tragic events over the course of many years. 

The thing about Jim, this man had been on a path of faith all his life. Over the years he had repeatedly put into practice the core tenants of the Christian tradition: trust, generosity, hope, forgiveness… He saw the worst of what life can do. And yet… there was a profound faith, a light, and a hope that tragedy could not touch.  

I’ve been in the ministry long enough to know that this doesn’t just happen. It takes a lifetime of practice.

Let us pray: Be near to those who need you near this day, O God. Help us to engage our faith now. Deepen our ability to forgive, to trust, and to give, even when every fiber of our being resists. Create in us a “second innocence,” that we might experience your peace, and be instruments of that peace, through Christ our Lord. Amen.