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Real Answers™
dt18
Copyright: ©2008 Debbie Thurman
660 words

PUTTING AWAY CHILDISH THINGS

By: Debbie Thurman

As I grow older, I am ever more aware of the fragility of life. Each year brings me face-to-face with more tragedy. I have come to see each day as a precious gift. I believe in living every day to the fullest, appreciating the little moments I could so easily take for granted.

Last night, my husband and I had a quiet dinner on our wraparound deck, surrounded by the natural beauty of our little “estate” we have dubbed Whispering Leaves and have worked hard to make a haven. We stayed outside until nearly 10 p.m., each reluctant to break the spell of a perfect evening. Such times are a little slice of heaven on earth.

Last week, former Senator Phil Gramm got in hot water for intimating that America has become a nation of whiners, perhaps too accustomed to material ease. I think he hit a nerve because he got too close to a truth we are reluctant to admit. Children whine. They also tend to fixate on the problem instead of the solution. We seem to have a lot of children in America who don’t want to grow up.

When I was a child and I went to pining and whining for something I didn’t need, my mother would say I was old enough for my wants not to hurt me. I learned to get over it. I can thank her today for helping me to realize the value of a dollar and to see the absurdity in materialism.

Children tend to live in and for the moment. The good news is they can see the joy in the simple things that most of us forget about as we grow older and become laden with adult responsibilities. It’s good to be around a child and be reminded of simple, innocent pleasures. The other side of the coin is children lack the ability to defer gratification or see the bigger picture. Ergo, the tendency to whine.

Biblical teaching compels us to have the faith of a child, but to grow up in all other respects. “When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things,” wrote Paul to the early Corinthian church (1 Cor. 13:11).

Now, more than ever, America has some growing up to do. We are still a relatively young nation. We weren’t exactly born with a silver spoon. My English and native American ancestors brought two worlds together in a tenuous settlement in Virginia 400 years ago. They battled nature’s cruel elements, disease, politics and each other along the way, but they made it work. Today, we are all the beneficiaries. Did those settlers thank God every day they awoke with breath in their bodies or did they plaintively groan and curse the dawn?

Today, we live in a free nation, that precious gift purchased with the costly sacrifices of selfless people we never knew. Our families are sometimes scattered about the country, but it’s generally by choice. In some countries, families are separated by force. Our poorest family is unimaginably wealthy to most of them.

Life and freedom are precious. They are never guaranteed. Prosperity is not a promised birthright. As each individual works to protect and prosper his family, thanking the God who provides it all, so thrives this nation. Neither God nor government is some grandfatherly vending machine with overflowing pockets. Are we mature enough for our wants not to hurt us, or do we hang on Grandpa’s leg, begging for candy?

No, life is not easy and it’s certainly not always fair. I may be here today and gone tomorrow. But when I exchange this decaying, mortal body for the perfect, ageless one that awaits me, I pray all those I have known remember me as one who was grateful for every blessing I had.

Debbie Thurman is an award-winning commentator and author who writes from Monroe, Va. Her e-mail address is debbie@debbiethurman.com.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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