Childhood and maturity

WE need to be clear about what makes for our human maturity, and how being like a child enters into the equation. The Bible, for one, is full of citations linking childhood with maturity and perfection, or at least with the ticket to enter heaven. Many people have been wondering what this apparently contradicting idea is all about.

            In the Gospel of St. Matthew, for example, we can read the following very enlightening words of Christ:

            “Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?’ And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said: ‘Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.’” (18,1-4)

            We have to explode the myth that for us to attain our Christian maturity and perfection, we have to be an adult in age, with many years of experience, or popular in some religious ways, or knowledgeable about philosophy and theology. All these are helpful, but they are not the crucial elements.

            What is essential is that our heart is fully conformed to God’s will, our life therefore somehow reflecting God’s goodness and holiness. And the child, with his inherent innocence and purity of heart, simplicity and openness, among other qualities, has the advantage of easily attaining that ideal almost effortlessly.

            To be sure, what is being referred to here about childhood is not about the common proneness of the children to be naïve, thoughtless, or to get easily spoiled and to fall into tantrums when whims and caprices are not met.

            It’s just the child’s humility, transparency and docility, among others, that make him easily drawn to God, and to the things spiritual and supernatural. These qualities lead him to believe and to trust. Talk to him about God, prayer and little sacrifices, and he gets it almost immediately and automatically.

            Even if such qualities do not gain him much worldly knowledge or power or fame, or even if they exist together with a number of limitations and imperfections, the child, and anyone who lives these qualities of a child, become attractive in the eyes of God who, on his part, will always be moved to give him more graces and blessings.

            Remember Christ saying, “I give you praise, Father, Lord, of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.” (Lk 10,21)

            We have to be convinced that retaining and deepening these childlike qualities as we grow in age and stature is a necessity for us. We have to be most careful of the all-and-sundry factors that can melt away these childlike traits as we gain knowledge and become more aware of the great powers of our intelligence and will.

            The temptations are always there to loosen our hold of this fundamental truth about spiritual childhood. We will be charmed by the different allurements of the world that tend to deaden our sense of the spiritual, the sacred and the supernatural.

            We will be persuaded that we would be better off if we play the games of deception and dominance, if we act out the drama of envy and revenge, if we succumb to the sweet poison of self-seeking, self-assertion, self-absorption.

            We will be told that there actually is no shame in pursuing the lusts of the flesh and the world. In fact, we would gain more things, and joy and pleasure would go the max. In contrast, those who stick to an ancient and irrelevant creed are the ones having a hard time in life.

            We have to be ready to do battle to these subtle snares of the devil, the world and our own weakened and wounded flesh. Spiritual childhood is not a state that comes to us automatically. It has to be pursued and fought for, protected and defended.

            Thus, we are told by Christ himself, “Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be you therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.” (Mt 10,16)

            Learning to be a child is actually easy because in the first place, God’s grace is always assured. We just have to fill our mind and heart with goodness and love, and repulse any temptation immediately, and stay away from complicated reasoning that seeks our self-justification rather than being justified by God.