Let's all defy some gravity

Last week, my daughter, Karilea, texted me a picture of her and my oldest grandson Eli, who is six years old. School was out, and Eli was home and wanted to play dress up.

So, of course the pictures were of them in their Halloween costumes – Eli was Superman, and my daughter was wearing her Green Lantern mask and cape.

The picture was perfect, one of those that is so true it told its own story. Eli was turned backward and straining his head around to make sure the big S on the back of his cape showed up in the picture. He was so proud and the innocence of it wasn’t lost on me.

Later the same night, we were Facetiming with the Karilea and her family, watching the kids play and catching up with their parents when Eli said this:

“Daddy, help me defy gravity!”

It’s uncanny how that six-year-old stops me in my tracks.

If you haven’t seen the news lately, or been on social media, you might not know the world is kind of on fire, or at least that’s what it feels like.

But Eli has a way of reminding me that a lot of it is not on fire, we just need to change what we’re paying attention to.

I saw excitement and confidence in his eyes, and I knew he had weighed the consequences and decided that defying gravity was exactly what he wanted to do. And he trusted his Dad to help him make it happen.

It took me away from wars, political BS, mass shootings and everything else we are tempted to be afraid of, and to where Eli lives all the time. I like it there.

He lives in a place where he is Superman whenever he wants to be as long as the costume still fits, and anything – including defying– gravity is possible.

It’s all good in Eli’s world where there are possibilities that others haven’t told him are impossibilities yet.

It tells me I need to get off social media because it causes me to stop believing in possibilities. I stopped watching TV news a long time ago, but I probably should stop reading so much vetted news. I’m not sure I need to know everything that’s going on.

I’ve been tempted to find me a Superman costume, but I feel like my loved ones would have me committed for mental health care.

So for now, I’m just going to quietly figure out how to defy gravity and keep seeking out the good in this world.

Wish me luck.