Child-like

Anyone who has experienced being grown-up for even one day understands how overrated it is. I know all of us probably spent a lot of our childhood’s wishing we were an adult. Whether it was because our circumstances were unbearable as a child, or we simply thought the accoutrements of adulthood were too enticing. Most adults would love to have an opportunity to be a child again even if it was just for a day.

I love the above quote by CS Lewis for so many different reasons, but I think number one is his understanding that “the desire to be very grown-up” robs us of much of the beauty of adult life. Often our view of being very grown-up, includes knowing almost everything about everything, not having any needs or unfulfilled dreams, no longer having any need for fun or play, and never fearing any monsters under the bed.

But true grownupism – a new word I have just created that refers to the art of being a true grown-up, still must maintain an ability to be childlike. Jesus said, “Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Luke 18:17, The Message.

Most psychologists will agree that the most limiting quality to new discovery is believing that you already know most of what needs to be known in the area of discipline you’re working in. Believing that we know it all prevents us from approaching learning from a humble and childlike sense of inquiry. Many disciplines call this “the beginners mind”.

When we clear away what we think we know, and eliminate our need for people to believe that we know all that is to be known, then we will approach whatever discipline we have chosen with a childlike spirit of inquiry. If we live with an honest sense of wonder and awe, then we will be constantly surprised by life in a beautiful way. A friend of mine begins each day by praying the simple prayer, “Lord, prepare my heart to be wonderstruck by your magnificence, and to live today in a state of awed astonishment at all that I encounter today.”

Awe, wonder, transcendence, exploration, discovery – we crave these experiences. We try to manufacture them in movies and online experiences. But when we experience them in their exquisite unscripted and unscheduled state, we are left standing (or kneeling) with hand on head childlike wonder. I’d really love to hear from you about how you experience awe and wonder as well as how feeling that way helps you in the rest of your life.