Peter Pan Revisited

Thinking more about my musical Peter Pan moment last week (see last post), it occurs to me that this experience is a great metaphor for life - and identity - as it often operates. While we SHOULD mature and grow from our youth into greater wisdom and knowledge, sometimes we also let things stick and crust over our perspective so that we no longer see things as simply or joyfully as we did as children. Simply put, we move from Peter Pan to Robin Williams (who, like him or hate him...is obviously NOT as cool as a flying Pan). We may grow in wisdom, but often equally, in cynicism.

Jesus himself praised the qualities of childlikeness, recommending that everyone approach God the Father with the same openess as children bring. Carrying worldly burdens, the grief or frustration of the day, or simply by focusing so intently on "To Dos" that I never stop, I often miss the opportunity to savor the pure blissful experience that is knowing God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- and being known by him.

This thought is particularly challenging for me, as I just did a study last year based on Richard Foster's book The Celebration of Discipline, in which he clearly emphasizes the importance of simplicity as an intentional way of living. I first heard about the intentional practice of simplicity when I was in highschool, and I have found it completely fascinating ever since, although I have lived it out with varying degrees of success/unsuccess throughout the years.

To briefly recap, simplicity is not necessarily austerity and learning to live without unimportant extras (although we could all use more of this and it certainly enhances one's ability to practice simplicity). Rather, simplicity is a way of living with focus and clarity about what IS important, namely, Jesus Christ. As Carol A. Jenkins writes in her study entitled Practicing the Spiritual Disciplines,

"Simplicity recognizes we are eternal. We are not about the temporal but the eternal and our eyes are on the things above...Therefore, the practice of simplicity is about learning to live in the temporal with an eternal view and lifestyle." Specifically, it is about managing our lives to align with the truth that we are but stewards, not owners.

God gives, God takes away, and no man can accumulate possessions or skills or relationships that can insulate him from future trouble, should God give such trouble into his life. This can be a terrifying truth to those who have not found peace with the concept of God as sovereign, but it can provide even more abundant peace when viewed from the perspective that our responsibility over our lives (and possessions) is limited to what we can reasonably be expected to accomplish. We could term our responsibility as prudence, not prescience: God calls us to live prudently for the future, but I find no evidence that He expects me to plan for the future, as if I could know what such future may hold. That is his domain.

All this to say...I far more often consider the concept of simplicity and stewardship with regards to how I interact with material goods than I do in application to how I interact with experiences and relationships, and so while I may consciously return to a focused state of living on one level, I often let the grit and grime of life stick to my mind and heart and taint my perspective, rather than intentionally smoothing out and stripping away that which crowds out childlike joy.

The apostle Paul writes, "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengths me. " (Philippians 4) What a beautiful way to live- content in all moments. This is certainly a worthy goal, although at times, a challenge.