The YES at the Heart of Things
Years ago, when my daughter Katya was five, we were walking in Seattle and came across a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk. With the innocent curiosity of a child, she asked who he was. I explained that he had no money and couldn’t afford a home. She was quiet for a moment, then simply asked: “Why don’t those who have more give to those who have less?”
Pure, simple, and completely earnest.
Children have a way of cutting through the noise and going straight to the heart of things. They see obvious solutions without the layers of doubt, practicality, or cynicism that adults often add. Imagine if this idea were brought up in Congress or a public meeting—it would be met with skepticism, debates over costs, and accusations of idealism.
To paraphrase Jesus, unless we become like children, we cannot create a future that works.
Children would say:
If our chemicals kill birds, shouldn’t we stop using them?
If driving poisons the air, shouldn’t we drive less?
If people are unkind, shouldn’t we learn to be kinder?
For children, these truths are self-evident. But as adults, we complicate things. We are taught theories and ideologies that we use to filter out everything we encounter. These filters become so ingrained that we become unaware of them. They become our biases. This is why we need to dig deeper. This takes courage, but it’s necessary. By examining what’s beneath the surface, we just may uncover the hidden causes of our problems—and often, we land on the same simple conclusions a child would.
Understanding root causes requires innocence and openness. At the core of every issue lies a truth—what some might call a pattern, an essence, or a DNA. Once we grasp this core, it guides our actions and decisions. For instance, when I think about climate change, I realize that my lifestyle—how I live, travel, and work—is part of the problem. I can’t just wait for others to act; I have to start with myself.
Each of us carries a child within—innocent, pure, and knowing what is right. I want to honor this part of myself and encourage it in others.
What if we trusted our hearts to guide us toward solutions that are simple, obvious, and kind? We might find that the world we want is much closer than we think.