We laugh at the two-year-old who thinks she’s “all growed up!” because she can use the toilet, and we say, “Honey, you’ve got a LONG way to go!” We see children get frustrated that they don’t have the ability or privilege of the adults. They want to be there. They know where they’re going, but don’t want to have to take the long journey to get there. It’s so slow. It’s frustrating.
All growth takes time. There are no shortcuts. A five-year-old can pretend to be an adult, and indeed can imitate the adults well, but still has to take the time to become an adult. The time element is a requirement for all growth. We don’t suddenly know everything we want to know, but rather gradually learn everything.
Looking to others
The story is told of a young lad who asked Socrates to tell him everything he knew. Socrates got up and walked out, and the lad followed. He then walked down into a river, and the lad followed. Socrates then grabbed the boy and held him under water until he was struggling for air. When he brought him up, Socrates said, “When you want to know all that I know as much as you wanted air, then come and talk to me.” Near the end of his life, Socrates said, “I only know that I know nothing.” Sometimes all our learning only gets us to the frustrating place of realizing our own ignorance.
Moreover, we cannot give our growth to others. A professor can impart information, but the student can take in only what he’s prepared to receive. Parents, teachers, mentors, and others may tell what they have learned, most of which is wrong, incomplete, or irrelevant. We get tidbits of information from each other that keep us going on our own path, or help us to decide which path to take. However, each must make his own journey, taking his own path, finding mentors who can help on one section, until one or the other takes a fork and loses us. Our briefly shared paths bind us forever, but we journey on alone. Our path is individual, and others cannot tell us which way to go.
Re-Birthday!
Where is the fanfare? Where are the celebrations? Yesterday, I was given to know that my heart has been changed, that I’m no longer steeped in sin, that my heart is on the Lord, instead of in the world. It’s a momentous occasion, one worthy of my grandest party, and an annual celebration. I have been born again. I’m a new man. But, I still look, act, and feel the same as I did two days ago. On the outside, nothing has changed. On the inside, I’m still me. In my heart, the change has been gradual, VERY gradual, frustratingly gradual, compared to my expectations. Which day do I mark? Do I have more to go? Maybe I’m not even there yet. I don’t know what I don’t know so I don’t know if I can mark this in my calendar. In fact, in August a year ago I wrote:
08/29/2016 Born Again
I have finally found what I have been searching for all of my life. I am a new man in Christ. I am a son of Christ. I have taken upon me His name. This day He has spiritually begotten me. I am born again. After so many years of seeking, asking, and knocking, I have finally found salvation through the Lord, Jesus Christ, and I can feel to sing the song of redeeming love. I know Him. I know He lives, and I know He has to power to save me from all my weaknesses, rebellion, and sins.
So, a year ago I received a knowledge that Jesus could save me, that He would be my personal Savior. Now, I know that He has. Each one feels like arrival, but that begs the question, "What is the next step?" Where do I go from here? It’s not about events, it’s about processes. The changes are more like “Two roads diverging in a yellow wood,” than a 180-degree turn, or even a 90-degree turn. The turn is a few degrees each time, such that there is little difference months, or even years down the road. Now, a year later, I see that I have made another 2-degree turn. How can we celebrate such a small step. Like Neil A. Armstrong stepping down onto the surface of the moon, after a 300,000 mile journey said, “That’s one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.” He had arrived, but could have been frustrated that it was just a bunch of dust and rocks, like the Arizona desert. He didn't have to travel so far just to see another rock. The “giant leaps” In spiritual growth, like any other, are really small steps. It can be frustrating, if I think I should already be there, “all growed up!” as if there is a "there" to be.
Birth, and re-birth, are processes in the path of growth. Taking your first breath, or your first step, is just one of many. Learning is always a process that goes on forever. Like all things in the Universe, there is a bottom of zero, but there is no top, no ceiling. The apparent top is just a ridge over which we climb to see that there is more mountain to go. The trail goes onward and upward without end, as long as we choose that path. It’s only frustrating if we look ahead and want to arrive, to be there, to end the journey.
There is no end. Acceptance of life as a continual journey ends the frustration of growth. When we realize that there is no arrival, there is no stopping, there is no end, we can enjoy the excursion much more. We no longer dread the path, hoping to arrive, asking continually, “Are we there yet?” My answer to my children when we went on long trips was always, “Yes” To that question. “No matter where you are, you’re there.” I would tell them. We actually never arrive, we’re always traveling. Ironically, what we want, arrival, is damnation. Eternal Life is continual growth, we never arrive! How wonderful! Growth is excitement, change is interesting, learning is joyful, and progress makes life worthwhile. Loving the journey is Eternal Life. Rather than looking back and celebrating a small step, or a slight change in my path, I think I’ll look ahead and enjoy the road I’m on. I'm going to turn right at the next fork, just to see where it goes.
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