Young Authors - Daniel

This weekend was the state-wide conference for young authors, a program encouraging school age children to write. My five-year-old son, Daniel, was chosen to represent his school with his book, "Animals all around the World." He was able to meet an author of children’s books and get his autograph and meet other children from around the state chosen by their schools. One of my favorite books was written by a second grade girl entitled, "A manual on how to irritate my big sister."

The most valuable player. One of the prevailing issues of injustice is an idea of unfairness. In most competitions this is readily seen. A child fiercely competes in an athletic event to be the most valuable player. The harder this person competes the better. This is true of adults as well. Not only in sports but at work, home, and everywhere else we compete over limited resources. In the workplace we fight to get ahead and it doesn’t matter what happens to others along the way as long as we are making a profit.

Pursuing a little profit. We so often measure ourselves by what position we hold, what income we earn and what possessions we own. Those not measuring up are cast aside and they often feel cheated. Life has cheated them. It’s not fair. While many excellent laws have been drafted to address some of these inequities, there is a fundamental flaw that is never addressed. In all these pursuits, we forget God. God never promised the best job, the newest toys, a powerful position or comfort. Instead of looking at what we don’t have, we should be thankful for what we do have. Instead of always competing we should be looking for ways to come alongside others to help them.

Pursuing a little prophet. This weekend reminded me of this fundamental truth. Daniel had accomplished something significant but instead of pointing to himself and gloating over how great he was, he congratulated others in his group and told them what a great job they had done. He encouraged his brother in his strengths instead of doing what most of us would do and rub it in that he had won and his brother had not. Instead of writing a manual on how to irritate his brother he wrote an information book on animals around the world so that we could learn more about how to care for animals and all of God’s creation. My little Daniel is well on his way to pursuing a little prophet. His namesake was an Old Testament prophet who understood these truths. A young man of noble birth whose world was shattered when his parents were likely killed and he was carted away to Babylon, he could have been very bitter. And yet our first glimpse of this boy is a great example of not competing but looking for ways to cooperate with his captor and remain true to his God in devising a plan over his diet. And Daniel included his three friends in this plan and encouraged them to such a degree that they could stand respectfully opposed to the King when he wanted them to bow to an idol. Even a fiery furnace could not shake their faith.

The most valuable prayer. The life of Daniel is characterized by prayer. We do not see him competing to get to the top and yet God puts him there and he serves as prime minister in the greatest kingdom of the day. He was able to influence several kings who listened to Daniel because of his wisdom which came from prayer and a deep understanding of the word. For this reason Daniel is specially chosen to meet the angel Gabriel and see visions of the future. For this reason even while in his 80's Daniel could sit in a den of lions and praise God. Even when our adversary described by Peter as a "roaring lion" seeks to devour us we do not need to be discouraged. The God who protected Daniel from the lions will protect us as well. However, if we want to face life’s challenges with the confidence of Daniel then we need to follow the example of that young author who steadfastly pursued the things of God and not the things of the world. If you want to read a great book read Daniel. My own young author helps to remind me of the truth discovered in Daniel daily. Thank you both Daniels.