Like many people this week, I have watched my youngest child go to school for the first time. Thankfully, she was able to walk to school without fear or intimidation; there were no barricades, screaming protestors or armoured police vehicles on Glenthorne Avenue.
Children, unless corrupted by adults, are rarely capable of the mindless stupidity we have seen on our television screens recently. They do not wage wars (though, it has to be said, if trained by adults they do make excellent soldiers and spies); they do not torture animals in the name of science or sport (though they are more than capable of picking limbs off Daddy Long Legs); they do not peddle drugs…
Actually, these days, of course, they do. I am not trying to say that children are better than adults (an impossible assertion after the murder of Jamie Bulger). Anyone who has read Lord of the Flies, seen the television plays of Dennis Potter, or been to school at a time when 'Joey' or 'Deacon' were common terms of abuse, will not be so naïve.
Even so, children remain capable of almost infinite forgiveness, of limitless wonder, of selfless acceptance. Watching the news this week, I cannot help but be reminded of a wise man who once said that it is impossible to recognise the Kingdom of God unless you have those attributes of childhood - unless you become, not childish, but child-like.
Many people in Northern Ireland, on the other hand, seem trapped in a very dark, very adult world.