My coming of age story

I remember the year my family moved from the only home I had known. I was 14 and not only did we move but my Dad and Mom informed me that I would be going to our small church highschool come September. And further, I would be getting a part-time job to help pay for my tuition. Well, as we say today, I had issues and the situation was unacceptable.

Since all of this happened in the late 50′s it didn’t matter that I had issues or that the situation was unacceptable to me, since the motivations that drove these decisions didn’t take into account my self-esteem or my happiness quotient or my civil rights. My civil rights were the exclusive domain of my parents…where was the ACLU when I needed them?

So my freshman year at highschool was truly a journey of discovery. My coming of age story is one (not of sex and drugs) but one of going to a full day of classes and then 3 or 4 days per week going to work at a local grocery store where I learned how to sack groceries, courteously help customers out to their cars with their purchase, sweep floors, carry trash, sweep the parking lot and take orders from persons that weren’t very sensitive to my needs.

But, looking back I can see the wisdom in my parents decision for I was educated by teachers that had the education of the whole person as one of their guiding principles. “The whole person,” what an interesting idea…surely educators everywhere are educating the “whole person”…aren’t they?

The answer is probably yes in so far as they understand what a “person” is. If we are just a brain (intellect) then just pack as much information into education as possible and you have succeeded. If we are just some brain and mostly body (animal) then flatten those abs and obliques and you have succeeded. At 14 I was more interested in the animal model than anything else I could imagine but, I was subjected to instruction that taught that people had a soul and spirit. The teachers I had also had the idea that there was a divine origin of things and that demanded consideration of questions like; what is my purpose in life and what are the expectations of a divine creator and how does that divine creator communicate with His creation and how does the created communicate with the creator?

All of these questions did not lead to serenity or an absolute conviction of my self-worth but instead set me on a course of seeking truth. Truth, is that the same as facts or knowledge or tight abs? My experience has been that facts and knowledge do help to find truth but flat abs don’t. Truth is more than knowable facts and knowable knowledge because my teachers were right, I do have a soul and spirit which needs more than sound bytes and proofs and the latest results of an opinion poll.

There is within each of us the ability for self-sacrifice and loyalty and compassion and love and forming our own opinions about the controversies of the day. And there is a devine creator who’s spirit can and is working for our good…we just have to be humble and wise enough to acknowledge our limitations and seek His face. Lord give me the serenity to accept those things I can not change, the courage to change those things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.