Genuinely of Heaven

I've been itching to get this post out for a while now (not that long, actually) because it makes me excited, hehe. Which leads me to wonder what in life we're excited to share with our friends, why we hold such excitement, and so on. It also makes me think of how at church they say you should be excited to share the Gospel with friends and people around you (not that I'm not, just that this is what the whole thing makes me think of).

“天真” (tian1 zhen1) -- oh, what a beautiful word! Haha. I was thinking of WL a few days ago, just picking apart his personality in my head, and suddenly, it came to me, "In some ways he is very 天真." Huh.. what does that mean?

Now, the conventional translation of this word into English as "innocent" or "naive," which, in my books, more often than not doesn't carry the most pleasant connotation. It's hard to apply the word as such to WL, though. I don't find him naive or innocent in knowledge of the ways in which many people choose to conduct themselves, "the ways of the world" and whatnot. No, in that sense he has at least some idea of what goes on. Hm, perhaps it can best be said that he is able to retain a sense of purity, or.. separateness/otherness.. he knows of the world and engages enough with it, but doesn't fall victim to its every allurement?

When I came to that idea, somehow the neurons linked it to how Jesus says to his disciples that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will not be able to enter (Luke 18:17). (I'm not quite comparing WL to a little child, though it may be true sometimes, but still, haha.) Like a flash: "天" = day or sky. But it can also mean "of heaven"! To be "真" is to be real, true, or genuine. Put those together! Ohh, "天真" -- how beautiful a word, and how beautiful a description, that this person may be genuinely of heaven! :) It could be that his decisions to act selectively reflect a childlike faith (Note: not the faith one has a child, but faith as pure, radiant, and untainted as children should and tend to be), haha. I do hope so, for that would be glorious indeed..

But yeah, oh, the beauty of the Chinese language, hehe. I pray that we may all be 天真 -- not naive, but choosing in spite of and with our knowledge of "the world" to seek out and follow a Christ of faith, hope, and love, a Savior and Friend whose constant presence brings us more joy that we can ever otherwise know or imagine! =)