It is not being conservative to honour and respect the traditions and wisdom of the past, it is mature.

It is not being liberal to question those traditions and that wisdom, it is mature.

It is not being fundamentalist to have deep commitments that you honour, it is mature.

It is not being progressive to be open and to listen to the beliefs and stories of others, it is mature.

It is not careless or shallow to know that an ethic of love and justice frees us from black and white thinking, it is mature.

It is not reactionary or small-minded to be wary of how much truth there is in each passing trend or passion, it is mature.

Some argue against the existence of the supernatural while others get defensive; both, I believe, miss the point. Maturity gives attention to how each of us, in our unique ways, makes sense of and engages the Spirit that is at work in our experiences, our stories, our personal and collective memories, our art and in all the world around us.

 

Our polarized and polarizing culture has diminished our shared understanding and celebration of maturity and wisdom during a time when we desperately need this maturity to help us work together. I pray that we can all remember, and be more united in, what it means to be mature.