Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
“I’m hiding, I’m hiding,
and no one knows where,
for all they can see are my toes and my hair,
And I just heard my father
Say to my mother —
“But, darling, he must be
Somewhere or other;
“Have you looked in the ink well?”
And Mother said, “Where?”
“In the INK WELL,” said Father. But
I was not there.…”
This poem, “Hiding,” by Dorothy Aldis is a beloved family favorite. It portrays a child hiding, holding in laughter as parents look in all the wrong places, and then finally erupting in giggles. The parents, of course, know where the child is all along. They find the child, and all three delight in the finding.
I wonder, when Jesus says God hides important things from the wise and the learned but reveals them to the childlike, if God is like the child in this poem. God is hiding in obvious places, nearly in plain sight. Those who see themselves as learned believe they already know everything there is to know, and so they don’t even look. They fail to delight in the search. Meanwhile, God is always revealing God’s self to us, if only we would open our eyes, and be curious like a child, open to learning, learning not only in books, but in relationships and experiences. Learning even through play. Perhaps this is how God hides from us, always desiring to be found.
It’s also true that most of us spend a good deal of time hiding from God. Hiding, but actually wanting to be found. Like the child in the poem, we are not very good at hiding. God, like the parents, is always seeking us, revealing God’s self to us.
God is always ready to reveal God’s self to those of us, even grown-ups, who remain childlike - curious, always learning, searching together, and even playful.
—Kelly Adamson