Every time I listen to the news, I think of how many of us need to stop acting like children and just grow up. Stop getting out of sorts when we don't win. Stop playing with guns. Stop pretending we're the best at everything. Stop reaching for the biggest piece.
"Nana, what does it mean to be a grown-up?" asked one of the Beans the other day.
I smiled at the memory that question triggered. As a child, while trying to say "grown-up" one of my cousins accidentally shortened the word to "grumps." It stuck. A few of us who remember still refer to ourselves as "grumps." Occasionally we live up to the name.
"A grown-up? That's somebody who has no more growing to do. They're done. They're adults." Later, after reflecting , I came up with a better response. "Being all grown up in your body doesn't mean you're all grown up in your behavior. That's called maturity."
Parents of many teenagers know precisely what maturity is not. It jumps at them each morning when their offspring trips over their last attached nerve. And because they know what it's not, most could tell you that maturity includes the following:
A mature person is generally okay with not getting their own way.
A mature person waits for a good thing, rather than grabbing it before the time is right.
A mature person obeys legitimate authority figures-even when they'd rather not.
A mature person doesn't shun hard work.
Mature people do the necessary thing at the necessary time.
A mature person considers others' needs-and helps meet them.
Mature people express gratitude-without prompting.
Mature people take full responsibility for their actions.
Mature people don't make the same mistake twice.
A mature person makes room for others' opinions, even when they don't agree.
Mature people act on-rather than merely vocalize-their beliefs.
A crucial question for people of faith who want to impact a decaying world, is "What does it mean to be a grown-up Christian?"
That one, while encompassing the list above, has a far simpler answer: Spiritual grown-ups have the mind of Christ. Put another way, they remind people of Jesus. Man of justice, man of compassion, and man of joy--never a grump.
My challenge for 2013? That we all, in every circumstance, reach for maturity.
