When I was young I had one wish. That I were an adult. Most importantly, I wanted to be the dad. They seemed to enjoy everything from eating the biggest meat to being the ones that seemed to have all the money to spend.
Now that I’ve grown up to become what I’d always wanted to be, I made a new discovery. Adulthood is only an illusion. I wish I could be a baby now.
I know you’re having trouble understanding what I mean. Let me explain.
When I was young I didn’t have to know where the money was coming from. All I needed was food. And dad supplied that, without showing stress. I didn’t know what it took to be a dad until now.
But as I grew up I realised adulthood brought with it certain pretence. As an adult, much of the so-called childhood innocence has gone. Then I learn to say one thing while I actually mean the other. I learn to cover my tracks to protect my lies.
Not much different…
As children we were trained to ask adults any questions we couldn’t understand. The adults should know. Now I know better. They don’t have all the answers. But we believed them anyway.
Where I’m really going is this… There’s not much difference between these so-called adults and children in a sense. We are all children before our Creator. That’s because we all are accountable to him.
First, the scripture makes it clear to us that we don’t own ourselves. “You are the one who made us, an not we ourselves” (Ps 100:3).
That means every living creature and, of course, the human race is accountable to God if only for the reason that he owns us. We are not always allowed to do things anyhow we want it. God has a say in everything we do. But do we always know that?
I doubt if we do. Because much of what we learn today are rather teaching us to think otherwise. That we don’t need God to understand the universe. How true is that?
In fact, the idea that we don’t need the creator of the universe to understand his works is a bad idea. It also shows a level of childishness in our thinking. I find it funny.
God owns us. And we’ll forever need him for answers and clues that help us make sense of the world. Let’s stop pretending. If we keep believing that our existence is an accident, there’s no point trying to find any meaning in life. We won’t find any.
The irony of freedom and the place of truth…
Of course, I understand, that feeling comes from the desire to want to be free. To be absolutely independent of God. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to be an adult was this air of freedom that seemed to be around them. But what I now learnt has changed all that.
Freedom creates the awareness of choices and every choice made has a resultant consequences. That’s it. Every action – or inaction – of everyman has a definite consequence. It has often been said that we are what we are today because of our choice yesterday.
True.
So now it’s clear. The adults aren’t really free. At least, they can’t do whatever they like. When they make bad decision they’ll definitely get burned with the consequence of their unwise decision.
Quality decision therefore is a product of quality and adequate information. Now I understand that it’s not just about making decision but making an informed decision that saves our destiny.
That calls in the Truth.
This is in line with the bible. In fact, the scripture abundantly makes it clear that truth is the only pathway to freedom. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jh 8:32).
Unfortunately though, I observed that the adults too keep on making bad decision over and over again for lack of access to the truth. And that seems to get them entangled in chains of slavery and servitude. They desperately want out but they can’t.
The truth required for the purchase of their freedom seems to be elusive. Scarce. And is being horded by the slave masters who clearly don’t want them free.
Being aware that freedom is the ultimate goal of the adults,the main target of the enemy therefore is the truth. So he can spend his entire life fighting and attacking that truth. And part of his strategy include distortion, by creating what seems to be the truth but not the truth. Creating cheap and convenient truth in place of the original costly ones.
Yet in the ‘make-believe’ world of the adults real truth actually exist. It may be scarce, though, not unavailable. It’s costly, but not unobtainable. And it may not be popular either, but it’s truth. And it’s the only vehicle to a complete and total freedom.
Our goal, as adults, should be focused on getting it at all cost. Even at the cost of blood. We should just stop pretending or looking the other way like we use to do. We aren’t free yet. At least, till we get to the truth. And we can’t fake that.
In conclusion the scripture, recognising the truth scarcity, has rightly advised the freedom fighters and seekers to “buy the truth and sell it not” (Pro 23:23). It’s so that we can use it to obtain the real freedom desired.
That will definitely make us appear less phony to our children as we soon discover the real path to mature adulthood. One that’s certainly not an illusion.
Segun Dada is God’s Own Errand Boy, and Yours. He writes to relegate the fluffs by promoting real Values.
Stuffs That Count 