It came to my mind yesterday, there is a turning point, typically quite pronounced when a person becomes an adult. What surprised me is when I realized that this point, which was quite pronounced and accepted in the past, is no longer the measure by which our society understands maturity.
This point is elementary, it is when we cease to have the attributes of a child. What are the typical attributes of a child? It is selfishness which often boils into anger and indignation at not being able to get what one wants. It is believing that your life is solely for yourself, and your pleasures must be satiated, and the rest of the world must revolve around meeting these needs or demands.
The ease of our modern comforts has added to childish behavior and extended the immaturity of our young. Persons growing up now seldom have the struggles to survive which bore maturity and compassion towards the people around us. Even worse, the immaturity goes as far as to blame others for their lack of success which often turns into aggression towards those that are in often misguided perceptions better off.
In living for ourselves, we do not partake in the natural order and hence no longer feel any accomplishment in our lives. This lack of true living stems from selfishness. Only in a true loving family atmosphere can one mature into a real adult.
The family is the perfect model of the best of human society and formation. This is because the family that is right ordered, lives not for the individual but for each other. The father and mother joined together in joy to sacrifice their solitary life and create another for which they will continue to sacrifice and work to develop into loving and compassionate human beings. The children of a rightly ordered society are exposed to this love and sacrifice and therefore incorporate these same attitudes into their lives and as they grow, they become mature, as their thoughts no longer dwell on their own fulfillment but towards that of sacrificing time and energy to help others into their own joy filled life.
Sacrifice and compassion for others is the antithesis of our modern society. We live in a country which is sick and declining. We live in a country that lives in the opposite mindset of the quote by President John F. Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Your country is or was your greater family at that time. I believe we have arrived at this point, as society has consistently removed support for the family by promoting all things contrary to a healthy lifestyle such as pornography, abortion, and contraception which attacks the natural order of life. All three of these have solely one objective, the satiation of our selfish desires to control our lives the way we want to. The new motto and mindset which is the logical outcome of these actions is simply this; the rest of the world be damned if I don’t get things done my way.
Now doesn’t that sound like a five-year-old child simply demanding the thing he believes will bring him pleasure and joy. Sadly, like the young child throwing a tantrum and, in the end, receiving the object of their desires, they quickly realize it does not satisfy and then go on seeking the next object to try to bring satisfaction. However, the children and immature adults unfortunately running our country are pandering to persons just like this that take no responsibility for their actions and want others to solve their problems and give them what they want.
A responsible person is the fruit of a life lived in sacrifice for others. It is strange to me that I must define this. You would think this is understood. Yet, in a selfish childish society, people think it means, “who is to blame if things don’t go my way?” This is what is thought of by those raised in this new narcissistic way of life known as modern society. Sad but true, people who live this life never find true happiness or peace.
In the final analysis, our society is way off of course and will have a crash landing. Yet, people can begin to change the current culture just by themselves living a life of love and self-sacrifice for others. By living with a sacrificial love in our hearts and minds we receive the gift of the natural order of our existence, which is peace and joy. This, my friends, is when we know we have reached the age of maturity.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13:11
The Metamorphosis of Life 