an attempt at relearning innocence

It seems like it would be predictable by now. Every Wednesday at 3:15. Same school, same time, same staff, same classroom, but never the same kids. Sure, there are the regulars. The ones that show up from week to week that sit in the same desk, with their same sidekick troublemaking friend, but there is at least one to two new faces every week that decide to join Care House Christian Club at Monarch school downtown San Diego.

Being a leader of this "bible study" for the inner city kids always has its adventures. Between the sharp tongues, the snappy attitudes, and the heir of coolness each youngster tries to achieve makes it hard to teach. Today's christian club was different though. Instead of having a prepared lesson, we had a Q & A session for the little ones, an opportunity for them to ask any questions they had related to the bible. The questions they asked varied from "How old is Jesus?", "When is Jesus' birthday?", "When is Barack Obama's birthday?", "Did you know Justin Bieber just turned 17 yesterday?. They surprisingly seemed to really know how to stay on topic. So to encourage the focused theme, I threw questions at them (followed by candy). I won't bore you with examples of the number of questions I asked, but one question in particular every kid seemed to have an answer to. (Going along with one of our themes from a few weeks prior, "Unlocking Love")

Q- "What is one way of showing love and affection to your family and friends?"

A's- "Doing nice things like not saying bad words."
       "Showing reSPECT!"
       "Sometimes being nice to your mommy."
       "Giving a present, or not hitting someone."
       "AHhh you know what it is!"(this one included a dance)
       "Listening to Hannah Montana."(fortunately what I am referred to as)

As I was listening to their answers and imagining how little I know of most of the kids and their family life. It made me envy them and their innocence. To them, love was a word that they have been told about and what they know only as an action verb.