Accountability brings forth adulthood.
It is the only thing that produces adulthood.
Adulthood is an early way station on the way to wisdom. To credit the "wisdom of children," as I did when I was in college and had no clue, is to project and to overvalue candor. To those who would respond that Jesus said we should become as a little child, I submit that he was intentionally making an alarming statement to make people think. A great teaching technique. Getting people to think, that is. Becoming like children, not so much.
Any notions I may have had about the "wisdom of children" evaporated when we tried to raise some. True, sometimes they see things we don't--like the bees hiding from the rain underneath the leaves--but without perspective. I'm not always inspired by the wisdom of college students either, though some of them have turned into adults.
ReplyDeleteI've heard it argued that Jesus was talking about trust and depending on God.
Whoosh.
ReplyDeleteThe Zen school is fond of coming up with bon motes and one of my favourite's is: "Be dead, thoroughly dead, and do as you will" Its an admonishment, to just be who you are, without artifice, pride, hypocrisy and all the other self conscious roles we assume.
Christ is saying exactly the same thing. Be like a child in your dealing with others and deal directly and honestly with them.
Now accountants are from another place. I recently watched Drive Angry, a Nicolas Cage movie. The reason I liberated my copy, was that the accountant, was so good. Speaking about his boss, he describes him as a quiet man with cultured tastes and very well read, who just has the misfortune to run the biggest jail in creation, hell.
There is a childlike innocence and openness that's worth harking back to at every stage--but I agree that a "wisdom of children" that ignores accountability and integrity is worthless for grownups.
ReplyDelete