By iamsandykay on May 13, 2022

Should We Put Away Childishness?

In this crazy, fast-past, get-as-much-done-as-possible world in which we live in, we all have acquired the tendency to take the quick surface information and move on. Do I have to read this whole book? Is there an article about the overall plot? How about a paragraph synopsis? A one-liner that I can just use instead?

I do it, too, but lately I’ve been thinking about how limiting this is AND how often we take someone else’s interpretation and run with it?

I’m sure nearly all of us have heard this one:

Mary Oliver’s “What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?” quote from Amy Tan x Carrie Colbert

Have you heard the entire poem? It’s the second half that contains that famous line:

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Do you notice what she actually said?

She’s been idle in the garden observing the wildlife there and asks, “What else should I have done?” She’s pointing out that everything you choose to do with your time is valuable. It’s not always about the hustle.

How about Blood is thicker than water. You know that’s been used against you.

“Nowadays, this phrase is used to imply that family relationships are more important than friendships, often suggesting that family should be prioritized.

However, the full quote is actually “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb”, which has the exact opposite meaning. The original meaning actually doesn’t refer to family at all and instead comes from the idea that a bond made with someone that you’ve shed blood with (in the past this would have been a literal reference to battle) is stronger than one had with someone you’ve shared the womb with.” source

One that I’ve been thinking about lately is a bible verse:

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. NKJV

Said another way:

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. CBE

Did you know those individual verses are taken out of context, as Bible verses often are?

The full verses for both translations:

But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:10-11 NKJV

But when the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought to an end. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:10-11 CEB (Common English Bible)

Do you see that?

When the perfect comes, we put away the imperfect. The “perfect” is Jesus. The imperfect is ourselves.

Guys! We’re skipping ahead!

The second coming, the rapture, the end of days is not upon us yet (as far as I can tell….though some days….)

C.S. Lewis has it another way: “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

What if we do this?

Yes, there is good and right time to mature and make better, smarter, safer choices and improve our lives, but perhaps – hear me out – we don’t need to live like there is nothing left.

We don’t need to be so quick to grow up…even as a 40 year old, a 24 year old, a 60 year old. We should be quick to enjoying ourselves and the things and people we have.

I’m here with you; I’m here for you.

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