When kids are very young, the world is so new and exciting. Kids are so curious. They want to explore and see and understand everything. And when they first start school, it is so much fun. Learning is what they want to do. They practically shout “Teach me!”
So what happens? By the time we are adults, we seem to have internalized so many “No” and “Don’t do that” statements that we no longer even wonder about things. We become afraid. We lose the innocent, wide-eyed wonder with which we are born. We become accustomed to day to day monotony…same foods, same routine, same old, same old. Some of this is perhaps necessary, but what happens to the imagination and creativity that God gives us when he forms us? Why are we so inquisitive and excited about life as kids, and so boring and even cynical as adults??
As I ponder this, I think that maybe it is the adults in the world that do this to the kids. As the ones “in charge” we do make a lot of rules. Some are necessary because of safety, of course. But many are just for our convenience. Many are because of our fears, accumulated along the way. We all have baggage and we pass it on to the next generation…and the next…and the next.
There, of course, are always a few adults who think “outside the box.” Often they are ridiculed. But some change the world! Surely, there should be more of these people. But they are not usually rule followers.
Don’t get me wrong….I am not against all rules. There are just so many of them! When I think of the beginning of human society ….all the way back to the original creation….. Adam and Eve were initially saddled with only one rule. We were told to explore and rule over the entire planet and we were given only one rule.
Then when Christ came, He again took us back to simplicity with just 2 rules. Love God first and then your neighbor. It is because we don’t want to follow those 2 rules, that we need to make so many others. And with many rules, our lives become filled with so many “NO” and “Don’t do that” barriers….and we become adults. I think we should study the children around us. Then we should try to rediscover the child in us. We can learn from kids and we need to try to avoid turning them into us.
May we all become as little children, at least in our ability to wonder and enjoy and trust. Children shout “Life”. They love adventure! I don’t think I like adults so much!!
