Every day we see commercials for thousands of products that promise to keep us looking young and supplements that will keep our brains young. But what about our minds and hearts.
In today's gospel we read:
whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.
Notice that it doesn't say "like an adolescent." The gospel is referring to a young child. And the wonderful thing about young children is that they are incessantly inquisitive but also open to learning. They are living sponges. They may drive you crazy with questions but it is merely an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Somewhere around adolescence we change. The ego takes over and we decide that we know better. We question but it is no longer in order to learn but in order to assert control. It become about power. And I'm sure developmental psychology would tells us why this is a good thing — unless we get stuck here.
The thing I am loving about being in my 50's is realizing that the older I get the dumber I am. In my 20's and 30's I was smart. I knew everything. There was nothing I couldn't figure out and usually on my own. And I was more that willing to show you how much I knew.
In my 50's I realize how complicated the world is and how incredibly small my knowledge is. There are no simple answers. If there were, philosophy and theology would cease to exist.
As Christians, we must never forget that the word disciple means student. God created us to be perpetual students: forever seeking knowledge, forever seeking truth. To be disciples means that we must rid ourselves of any adolescent hubris that remains, and live always as inquisitive open hearted little children. Then we will enter the kingdom of God.
