Pouye
12-11-2008, 08:18 AM
One of the most disturbing thing I realised as a child (around the age of 11 or so) was just how stupid adults were. I don't mean that in specific terms. I mean it in general. Adults often act far more immature and stupid than children do, and it was scary for me when I came to that realisation. I even remember praying to God when I was around 11 that I would never become like the adults I saw in my life. It really looked to me like growing up caused people to become idiots when I was younger. And now, after 25 years, I still have to agree with my 11 year old self.
When I look back to that time, my faith in God was very strong. It was far more "innocent", if you will -- without all of the mental trappings of argumentation and theological banter. My faith then had that quality Jesus spoke about when He placed a child on His lap and used that precious little one to show an adult world how simple faith in Him really was -- as easy as sitting on His lap!
I remember the first time driving by an "adult store", reading the sign, and asking my mom what sort of things adults would buy in there. I wanted to stop and take a look. She just said they weren't things for kids, so I figured adult books, magazines and toys were probably things like shop equipment or maybe technical manuals. I thought "adult movies" must be movies that were too technical or about topics like medicine, government and leadership (those were the things I saw "grown ups" doing).
When I was around 13 I began to learn more about what humanity was really like. Me and my friends had it together: We treated each other with respect, we treated our teachers, parents and authorities with honor, we had manners, etc. But it was then that many of the adult "role models" in my life (including my own father) began to really disappoint me. The kids at school acted 10 times better than many of the adults in my life who were older than us by 20 years or more.
Adults did really stupid things. They would go and get drunk, smoke things that made you act even dumber (if that were possible!), and then try to drive a car! They would beat each other up and abuse their kids. They would steal, cheat, lie and rape. They would kill their unborn and abandon their own families. It scared me to death to find out that adults were so amazingly stupid and wicked. The kids that stood in neat lines ready to enter their classes looked like gods and goddesses compared to all of the adult demons outside the school zone!
My first thought was if becoming an adult makes someone so stupid, maybe I would be better off dying young, while I was still decent. Not that I wanted to kill myself, but I did consider it a good thing for a while if I croaked young. Adults all around me were getting depressed, having nervous breakdowns, going to jail, going to rehab, getting therapy, having affairs, leaving their families to starve, etc. No adult in my life seemed to be exempt from the global epidemic of stupidity -- including my own parents, aunts and uncles.
Now I'm 36. Although I've somewhat gotten over the initial shock of finding out I live in a world chock full of moronic wicked people, I can very much relate to Jesus here:
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Matthew 7:11-
Up to this point you may think that I sound really self-righteous. However, nothing could be further from the truth. I'm asking myself this question: Have I become a stupid adult? Do I have "childlike faith"? Have I been sucked into the vortex of moronic thinking? Have I "grown up" so much that I can't relate to God as well as I did when I was 11? Am I running around like Martha, when I should be sitting at Jesus' feet like Mary? Am I acting like those frustrating disciples of Jesus?:
"So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him.”
Jesus replied, “You stubborn, faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
Matthew 17:16-
I've come to the conclusion that when God made Adam and Eve, they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. God purposely created them to be dependent on Him, and when we as humans aren't completely dependent on God we self-destruct (like they did). We are inherently weak and fragile, especially as adults. As we mature we tend to become more selfish and self-seeking. Our focus drifts away from our Authority and we desire to do things on our own -- be our own boss. It is only by surrendering all of these inherent desires to Jesus that we (as adults) can actually walk in wisdom and in the ways of God. Children need faith, but adults often think they don't need it -- as if faith is something you outgrow when you become educated. For instance, you need faith to believe in Santa, but when you are educated you don't need Santa anymore to explain all of the presents under the tree in the morning.
How "adult" are you? How childlike are you?
Rock
When I look back to that time, my faith in God was very strong. It was far more "innocent", if you will -- without all of the mental trappings of argumentation and theological banter. My faith then had that quality Jesus spoke about when He placed a child on His lap and used that precious little one to show an adult world how simple faith in Him really was -- as easy as sitting on His lap!
I remember the first time driving by an "adult store", reading the sign, and asking my mom what sort of things adults would buy in there. I wanted to stop and take a look. She just said they weren't things for kids, so I figured adult books, magazines and toys were probably things like shop equipment or maybe technical manuals. I thought "adult movies" must be movies that were too technical or about topics like medicine, government and leadership (those were the things I saw "grown ups" doing).
When I was around 13 I began to learn more about what humanity was really like. Me and my friends had it together: We treated each other with respect, we treated our teachers, parents and authorities with honor, we had manners, etc. But it was then that many of the adult "role models" in my life (including my own father) began to really disappoint me. The kids at school acted 10 times better than many of the adults in my life who were older than us by 20 years or more.
Adults did really stupid things. They would go and get drunk, smoke things that made you act even dumber (if that were possible!), and then try to drive a car! They would beat each other up and abuse their kids. They would steal, cheat, lie and rape. They would kill their unborn and abandon their own families. It scared me to death to find out that adults were so amazingly stupid and wicked. The kids that stood in neat lines ready to enter their classes looked like gods and goddesses compared to all of the adult demons outside the school zone!
My first thought was if becoming an adult makes someone so stupid, maybe I would be better off dying young, while I was still decent. Not that I wanted to kill myself, but I did consider it a good thing for a while if I croaked young. Adults all around me were getting depressed, having nervous breakdowns, going to jail, going to rehab, getting therapy, having affairs, leaving their families to starve, etc. No adult in my life seemed to be exempt from the global epidemic of stupidity -- including my own parents, aunts and uncles.
Now I'm 36. Although I've somewhat gotten over the initial shock of finding out I live in a world chock full of moronic wicked people, I can very much relate to Jesus here:
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Matthew 7:11-
Up to this point you may think that I sound really self-righteous. However, nothing could be further from the truth. I'm asking myself this question: Have I become a stupid adult? Do I have "childlike faith"? Have I been sucked into the vortex of moronic thinking? Have I "grown up" so much that I can't relate to God as well as I did when I was 11? Am I running around like Martha, when I should be sitting at Jesus' feet like Mary? Am I acting like those frustrating disciples of Jesus?:
"So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him.”
Jesus replied, “You stubborn, faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
Matthew 17:16-
I've come to the conclusion that when God made Adam and Eve, they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. God purposely created them to be dependent on Him, and when we as humans aren't completely dependent on God we self-destruct (like they did). We are inherently weak and fragile, especially as adults. As we mature we tend to become more selfish and self-seeking. Our focus drifts away from our Authority and we desire to do things on our own -- be our own boss. It is only by surrendering all of these inherent desires to Jesus that we (as adults) can actually walk in wisdom and in the ways of God. Children need faith, but adults often think they don't need it -- as if faith is something you outgrow when you become educated. For instance, you need faith to believe in Santa, but when you are educated you don't need Santa anymore to explain all of the presents under the tree in the morning.
How "adult" are you? How childlike are you?
Rock