Process of Change: The "Rite" Stuff

I was doing some research on rites of passage and how they work when i came across some info that really brought some things together. A rite of passage is a ceremony or test that brings a person from one stage of life to another. For our sake, and as is most commonly seen. The rite of passage refers to the time at which a child becomes an adult. They go from living a life of very limited responsibility and training to being considered and treated as an adult. That includes taking on the rights and responsibilities of adults. It is something that has been lost quite possibly to the detriment of youth and our society.

It's interesting looking at these rites of passage and how they work. There are actually three very important parts (or stages) to a rite of passage. Each part has and holds a purpose that helps to give meaning to and define the process:
1) The first stage is the abandonment stage. It is a matter of leaving the old behind. Childhood is removed like an old robe or as an old shell abandoned by a hermit crab who has grown too big to fit into it anymore. It is the point at which a child recognizes that they are no longer to be a child. They are abandoning their childhood in an attempt to become more. To become an adult.
2) Next is the separation stage. The separation stage is about training, testing, & trials. It is the part of the process in which the youth proves that they are ready for the decision that has been made. These could be through physical, mental, and/or psychological trials. These things could be merely an expression of a decision made, or they could be actual real trials that the young person is required to fulfill in order to be allowed to pass on to the next stage.
3) The last stage of this process is the reintroduction into the social structure of the group. The child is no more. There is some sort of ceremony or ritual and the child becomes an adult with adult status. The group accepts them back as their own and they are now treated as adults and expected to act that way.

When i was doing this research i was fascinated by this because of how much it parallels baptism, which in turn parallels Christ's crucifixion process. As i have stated before, repentance, water baptism, and baptism in the Holy Spirit all include these same features. They are death and burial of the old self, a cleansing or work being done, and rebirth in a new form or as a new person. It seems that this three part process comes into play time and time again.

So, what does that mean for us? What do we do now?

History: The Loss of the Rite of Passage

History has become a very interesting subject to me. When i was in school i wasn't that interested in it as a subject as at the time it was more about a bunch of fact that we had to memorize than anything else. As time has gone by however, that has changed. I have begun to see history a bit more, and i have begun to recognize how it applies (or has not been applied) to today's culture.

Many things have changed in our societies over the generations, and especially in the last century & a quarter. In some instances it may be a good thing, but in many it's not so good. One of those things that i have noticed that has been lost by our society is the traditional ritual of coming of age or the rite of passage. This is a point in a person's life in which they make a transition from one stage of life to another. In this case from childhood to adulthood. It includes a ritual in which one who has been considered unable to make responsible decisions on their own and unable to be involved in the decision making process for others goes through a ritual (often through a physical, mental, or possibly academic trial) and when successful is considered an adult. They are treated like adults and expected to act as adults as well. Many times as a part of this process they are mentored by older men or women to prepare them for their expected roles as men & women, husbands & wives, workers & homemakers, etc in adulthood.

This tradition is one that appears to have become either entirely lost or simply ritualistic in nature with no real change in status or expectations for the individual coming of age. As a result it appears that with no defining line or set expectations children becoming adults may take less responsibility for their actions and have lower expectations for themselves. Added to that, the declining in the age of puberty & society's laxing of parental controls & sexual limitations creates a breeding ground for destructive lifestyles continuing through life.

Could reestablishing some of the more traditional rites of passage, with the proper mentoring & training, and placing greater and more defined expectations on those who complete it make a difference in some of these problems? Would it help to prepare our young people for adulthood? If so, what would it look like, and how could it be done? Just something to think about.

Image from ickna used under cc license.

Where is This Train Going?

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

How are we training our children? What do we want our children to become? It's funny, because many times we send our kids off to school to be raised and trained by other people. We may see them in the evening when they come home from school and we get home from work, and at that point we as adults are usually too tired from the day to interact with them in a healthy way. Many times our weekends are spent getting things done that need to get done around the house while our kids are doing their own thing. So how are we training them? They learn from us what they see us doing. If we are too focused on our own problems and issues, that is what they will see as the right way of handling things. If we spend all of our time working on take home from our jobs what does that teach them? Who and what are we training our children to become and at what cost to them? How are we training our children and what exactly are they learning from us?

Image from Patrick M Fulton used under cc license.

So What's the Equation for Freedom?

It being 4th of July and all, i have been so tempted to write an article "celebrating" America's freedom. Our freedom to become slaves to media franchises with their own (not so) hidden agendas. Our freedom to work so hard that we alienate our children and place them under government care to be raised & instructed. Our freedom to allow Supreme Court Justices to make decisions for the people and legislate from the bench because of how they decide that they want to "(mis)translate" our Constitution. At this point i have already spent more time on this off subject than i had planned to.

What i really wanted to look at today deals in part with one of those previous topics. Who is really raising our kids? There was a time when most parents raised their own kids. They taught them the fundamentals, there was a school that taught students what they needed to know to succeed in life. Reading, writing, math, a little science, and some history. From there the kids would go home and learn a trade as part of a family business or farm. If they decided not to follow the family tradition, they were able to work as an apprentice in another area to develop the skills necessary to do that trade. When they hit a certain age (early to mid teens usually), they were treated as adults, expected to act that way, and did. They had everything they needed to survive, succeed, and raise a family of their own. Now, less than 150 years later our lives have "improved" to the point where in order to "succeed" and "do well" one must have at least 16 years of "formal" education, and even then people leave school with no idea as to how to do what they have been "taught" to do. Even in lower education there is so much time focused on information that will most likely never be used again. For instance, how many people really apply questions like those below to their lives or work?

Graph the equation and solve the problems below
45X^2(squared) + 15XY - 16Y^2 + 12 = 152
If X = 8 what does Y = ?
If X = -12... If X = p...

or even

What factors of 84 are also prime numbers?

So much time is spent away from home, students are expected to learn facts and equations that they will never use or need in real life only to leave school unprepared to succeed. Meanwhile, an ever widening division between them and their parents is formed.

Many times what formal education does develop is immature individuals who have no idea what it means to be adults, and who are full of tons of mostly useless information with no idea as to how to apply it. Meanwhile those who have so much to teach their children about being adults, spouses, and parents are spending more and more time away from those that need them the most.

Image from ~Darin~ used under cc license.

"You Can't See Me!"

What is it about us and our lives that makes us think that we can hide from God. We as humans have created so many ways to attempt to hide from God that it would be impossible to list them all. There is the "attempt to recreate God in my own image so that i don't have to acknowledge who He really is" method. There is the "try to convince myself and everyone else that God doesn't exist thereby unsuccessfully avoiding God" method. There is also the classic "worship other gods (such as money, tolerance, education, science, marriage, happiness, self, etc) instead of God" method. There is even the "drown myself in activity and or music so i don't have to think about or hear God's voice" method. That one seems to be one of the preferred methods by us, the masses, in today's society.

However, nothing can beat the original Adam and Eve method. "Let's hide in the bushes and hope he doesn't see us!" It's amusing to me because it makes me think of a little child running and hiding their face in the couch cushion thinking that if they can't see daddy, he must not be able to see them. I mean "Hello! McFly!". God created Adam & Eve. He created the garden Adam & Eve were attempting to hide in. He created the universe that allows for their life to exist. Yet somehow Adam and Eve seem to think that if they hide under some leaves and branches, God won't be able to find them!

When i read about Adam & Eve's attempts at hiding i wonder how anyone can even imagine that that would work. I just shake my head and think that it's just plain silly. What made Adam & Eve think that that would work in any way, shape, or form? Yet when i look at the ways that we, that I, attempt to do exactly the same thing it appears just as silly. We imagine that by denying God's existence, recreating him in our own image, or attempting to hide our thoughts, we can go on living as if what He says doesn't matter. Instead of hiding behind leaves, trees, and branches, we are hiding behind entertainment, busyness, and our own intellect. It's the same thing with a new face! It just seems like we never really learn.

Image from Allogist used under cc license.