Today I read through a story circulating Facebook about a young girl who singled out an elderly widowed man as her companion after declaring to her mom that she liked old people best of all and wanted to love them up before they die. As I read it on my phone, head propped up on Eden's teddy bear lying beside my sleeping girl, I cried.

If you want me to get all Christian and biblical on you, I will quote Jesus as stating the kingdom of heaven belongs to children. This story exemplifies that.

If you don't want me to get all Christian and biblical on you, I will say that children are absolute gems of society whose ways are too often overlooked and belittled and labelled "cutsie" but not practical.

This young girl's heart (and her mother's insistence on following through and making the connection between this man and her daughter happen, which is just as important) stuck with me as I ran a few errands this afternoon. I couldn't help but wonder what the world would be like if we stayed child-like, as opposed to the opposite, described by as Ally Sheedy as "When . . . your heart dies" (The Breakfast Club). Aside from having tight and bouncy skin and endless energy, youth is often chided:

Stop being so childish.

That's just ignorant.

Grow up.

While being childish has its downfalls (for example, my toddler literally pooped in the tub while I was writing this post), they love passionately and seek fairness. Their love doesn't revolve around outward appearances or superficial qualities. They have profound joy: they are always happy until they are uncomfortable or feel like something isn't fair, and once that is righted, they quickly forget what upset them. They don't hold grudges; they can be selfish but also seek with all their hearts to create joy in others. They don't really have anything and have no concept of money or debt so sharing what they have is easy.  

Us adults, on the other hand, have student loans, mortgage debt, car loans, lines of credit. We must become indebted to get ahead, so by the time we're twenty-eight years old, and we see a guy standing shivering on the side of the road with a sign, we think as ones who have much but are in debt and are in this perpetual need of saving and spending large quantities of money. We've accumulated prejudice and a profound ability (a right, we might correct) of judging others. Our selfishness is the complex, thick-as-molasses kind of brew.

Children expect the adults in the room to right wrongs, to kiss boo boos, to hold them and kiss them when they hurt. Adults question every authority and always think they know better than their parents, spouse, God. Children love their bodies. Adults don't. Nature fascinates children. Adults use nature as commodity and profit. Children don't like to see others hurting. Adults are used to it. Children see things that are wrong and point them out. Adults don't think the wrong things of the world can be changed. Children act on their impulses. Adults suppress and ignore. Children don't get depressed. In adults, it's an epidemic. A child would never think to self-harm. They are never lazy, never idle, delighting always in busywork, tasks, missions. Adults work jobs they hate for years, and years, and years. Children love to learn. Adults are overwhelmed with information and are easy being stagnant. Children trust. They are kind and friendly to strangers. Adults tell their children to stay in the house.

If you want me to get all Christian on you, I will echo what Jesus said: that we need to be like children in all of the above ways.

If you don't want me to get all Christian on you, I will say that we need a few more adult children in a world that is filled with distrust, anger, and selfishness. Instead of admiring adulthood and telling yourself over and over what it means to be an adult, try to not let your heart die.