MIDDLE AND LATE ADOLESCENCE
The crisis of adolescence may be said to culminate about the years from
fifteen to seventeen with girls, and sixteen to eighteen with boys, or
the period of Middle Adolescence. During these years the feelings and
the imagination are a great storm center, largely because of the rapid
development of the altruistic feelings, and the enlarged conception of
life with the new ideals it has given.
Divine Wisdom in the order of the soul's unfolding can be seen nowhere
more clearly than in connection with the growth of responsibility for
another. There must first be the self feelings in the little child, to
help him learn his own individuality. When that knowledge comes, his
life must be related to other lives, hence the social feelings awaken,
yet it is for his personal pleasure that contact with others is sought.
But God's plan for a life does not leave it self centered, and under
His touch through these lives a sense of responsibility toward them
begins to be felt, and the realization comes that "No man liveth unto
himself." Ideals which make the good of others first, enter into
conflict with childish ideals which made personal gain first. A new
impulse to forget self in loving service confronts the old self seeking
and self love. Then the truth that "No man can serve two masters,"
fastens itself upon the soul and decision waits between self and
selflessness. In a struggle that often shakes a life to its foundations,
the great choice is made and the soul yields itself servant to obey.
Though a reversal of either choice is possible, it rarely occurs. This
decision usually determines destiny.
A new meaning and value in early nurture is revealed in the light of
this struggle. If love for Jesus Christ has grown through the years in
the heart of the child and the youth, a decision that means fuller
allegiance to Him and greater blessing to the world is assured. If also
during these years nurture has traced pathways of service, as an
expression of child love to God and to others, habit adds the influence
of its tendencies to the choice of ministering life, and offers channels
already prepared for the outflow of sacrificial love.
The years preceding have not been utterly devoid of altruistic feeling,
but adolescence presents marked difference in its manifestation, other
than that of intensity.
In early life, the willingness to consider others before self was
usually aroused through the influence of some one else; now the longing
and constraint is within the individual himself. Again, in childhood,
these feelings were called out only by some definite, concrete object;
now they are stimulated by great ideas as well. Patriotism, humanity,
suffering, duty, art and science have power to kindle flame on the altar
of sacrifice. The more difficult the task suggested, the greater the
power of its wooing. It is doubtful whether any Christian life ever
passes through this period without considering the ministry or the
mission field, or whether every life does not at some moment long to go
in quest of a Holy Grail.
The issues growing out of this crisis are too momentous to leave with
even the wisest human nurture. God Himself must deal with the soul face
to face, and lead it to this higher love and complete surrender.
In early years He revealed Himself as Creator, Heavenly Father and
Friend to the loving, trusting heart of the little child. Now the time
has come to make His glory pass before the soul. The marvels of creation
in Nature, in constellation and atom, the infinities of eternity and
space, the mysteries of life and death, His own holiness and justice and
all the attributes of His matchless character, the unspeakable love that
gave a Bethlehem and a Calvary to a sin sick race are revealed in new
light and meaning, and the revelation is overwhelming. Existence that
had been accepted without question now becomes complex and baffling. God
is no longer the gentle Lover and strong Protector of childhood days,
but the great "I AM," and in the terrible crystal of His presence the
soul is prostrate. With deep, added meaning the Cross stands out. Its
message of salvation, not only to this soul conscious of its need, but
to a sinning world, is heard anew; but with it comes the voice of the
crucified and risen Lord, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
The answer cannot be returned in emotional love. It must be the love of
all the heart, soul, mind and strength, born in self surrender. If this
be the soul's response, the final triumph and glory of the life of self
losing is pledged, not in the fluctuating efforts of a human will, but
in the changeless strength of the Son of God.
It is not to be wondered at that when a soul is in the throes of such
experiences as these, it is a time of storm and stress. Yet often the
struggle is carried on alone, in silence, for life becomes secretive.
The open frankness of childhood is gone, and only to one in close
sympathy will thoughts and feelings which sound foundation depths be
revealed. It does not at all follow that because there is a physical tie
between two lives, that there will be union of spirit in this time of
need. The tragedy of so many homes is disclosed in the distance between
father and son, and mother and daughter, that has widened almost
imperceptibly through the years from lack of sympathy and confidence.
This close relationship which admits to the Holy Place of the soul in
its crisis cannot be lightly cast away, and as easily renewed at will.
It is a growth of the years, to be nurtured patiently, prayerfully,
watchfully, steadily. A guest in the home of a busy physician noted the
peculiarly tender and close relationship which existed between the
father and his son, a splendid boy of about ten years of age. In answer
to her comment upon it, the father said with moist eyes, "We are very
close to one another. I know there is a time coming in his life when he
will need a father as he has never needed him before, and I mean to be
ready. I never take a long drive in the country, that I do not have him
excused from school to go with me. He wants to be a surgeon, so whenever
I have to perform an operation, I always have him help me in some way.
Up to this time there is nothing that weighs for a minute with him over
against an opportunity to be with me, and I am trying to keep his life
so close to mine that nothing can ever come between us." When that boy
reaches his crisis and life closes up, his father will be shut inside
with him. Is there any question as to the outcome, with a father and a
father's God within?
If, in the busy cares of life, the intimacy that God intended in the
home has been lost, it may be found again if the price of its recovery
be paid, but it is often a dear price, payable in the coin of self
humiliation, sacrifice and tears.
The need of this close touch with another is apparent in the unspeakable
longing of the adolescent heart for understanding and sympathy, for
appreciation and recognition, for help in choosing the life work, and
for love that is patient and deep. Perhaps the greatest longing of all
is to be trusted, to feel the strong grip of a hand and hear a voice
vibrant with encouragement and assurance say, "I know you can do it." If
the greatest successes in reformatory work come today through loving
confidence in the one who has started wrong, who can measure the
energizing power of such confidence in a life already striving toward
the best?
The pathetic side of this craving for confidence appears in the distrust
of self which is almost universal at times during these years. A great
wave of ambition and enthusiasm will sweep over the soul, and nothing
seems too great to be attained, nor any obstacles unsurmountable. As
suddenly it will recede, the ideals become impossible, the individual
but an atom in God's great universe, the sky grows gray and hope dies
out. In the vacillation between energy and indifference, enthusiasm and
apathy, self loving and self hating, goodness and badness, confidence
and despair, the ebb and flow of the tide in the soul is revealed to
understanding eyes.
For this fluctuation of purpose and failure to reach its high ideals,
stern sentence is passed at the inner bar of judgment, and though the
censure of another is resented, the soul bears great scars of
flagellation, self inflicted. The standard of measurement by which the
life tests itself and others is a new consciousness that there is
absolute right and absolute wrong apart from all external coverings. The
statements of others are examined, their actions are stripped of all
veneer, profession and practice are balanced, and death sentence is
passed upon the influence of any life that fails to meet the test. The
compassion that remembers that we are but dust has no place in the heart
as yet. Suffering will call out sympathy, but not failure to reach the
mark. A life must ring true to God, true to its fellow men and true to
the ideals conceived as belonging to it by these self-appointed judges,
if it is to be of any help to them. It is therefore not a question
whether the professing Christian, be he parent, teacher or church
member, can indulge in doubtful amusements or uncertain practices
without injury to himself. It is rather, "Are these things included in
the ideal of a Christian life, as it is held by those whom I want to
touch?" If they who bear the name of Christ exemplified more completely
the ideals by which they are measured, would there be so many who
question the reality of divine things?
It is during the closing period of Adolescence, ending with young men
about twenty-four and with young women about twenty-one, that doubt most
frequently appears. It comes rather as a questioning and bewilderment to
the Christian, and scepticism to the one who has had no experience of
divine things. Spiritual truth is not accepted because another has said
it is so, but each desires to know for himself the foundation upon which
he stands, that he may have a reason for the hope that is in him.
Investigation seems to show that at least two out of three pass through
this period of intellectual unrest, young men being in the majority.
Many causes contribute to this condition, but chief among them is the
maturing strength of reason and will. The new power to think God's
thoughts after Him, to trace cause and effect, to understand subtle
relationships, intoxicates the soul. Everywhere in the world around, the
pre-eminence of reason is acknowledged. The atmosphere of the university
and the college which surrounds the favored young men and women is an
atmosphere of scientific accuracy, where reason applies the tests. The
world of business, of finance and of statecraft all bow to reason,--why
not the spiritual world, and then by searching, the soul attempts to
find out God. As in the wisdom of God divine things do not yield up
their treasures in intellectual investigation but in revelation, the
thick darkness gathers. Even that which had been once known by faith
seems strange and unreal from this new view point. It is a critical time
for a soul when it is learning that in one realm reason does not go
before, but faith. Any harshness or lack of sympathy on the part of
another or evident disappointment in the life is very serious at this
point. The will asserts itself under such measures and from the pliant
attitude, "I cannot believe what I cannot explain," it takes the defiant
attitude, "I will not believe what I cannot explain."
The marvelous dealing of our Lord with Thomas is a picture of His
gracious dealing with every doubting heart, and ought to be the
perpetual model for every one who attempts to give help at this time.
When the Master stood before that disciple who said he would not believe
unless he had the indubitable proof of a physical testing, He spoke no
words of censure, no words of His pain that Thomas had been so long time
with Him and yet did not know Him in faith. "Jesus said, 'Peace be unto
you. Reach hither thy finger, and see My hands, and reach thither thy
hand and put it into My side and be not faithless but believing,' and
Thomas answered and said unto Him, 'My Lord and my God!'"
With like patience and infinite tenderness, the Spirit deals with the
troubled heart today. He makes the past days with God live again in
memory, if the life has known Him, and the soul can not deny in its
reason the reality of what it has lived through in its experience. He
uses every Christian life that can bear the search light as an
irrefutable argument of the verity of the unseen. He brings the peace of
God that passeth understanding, yet fills and thrills the soul as every
service for Him is rendered even in the darkness. He calls through hard
experience where reason can bring no comfort and the will is palsied,
through the abiding unrest and longing of a heart that is feeling after
God in its own way, instead of His, and through the drawing of childhood
habits of love and trust. When at last, spent out with struggle and
longing, the soul is willing to come back to the Heavenly Father as the
little child who used to be, asking only to walk hand in His, in dark or
light, a new consciousness dawns, clear, sure and absolute that, "Thus
saith the Lord," is more than reason, and the triumphant song rings
out, "I know whom I have believed, My Lord and My God!"
APPLICATION TO SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK
The Sunday School touches a life just entering maturity at the focal
point toward which all nurture has been tending. Enriched by years of
absorption, with ideals defined and channels of expression traced, the
soul faces an open door, bearing the inscript "Service." It is that each
soul may enter the door and give back to a waiting world its best, that
nurture has brooded and guarded through the years.
The great work of the Sunday School is to impel the soul to take this
step, and taking it, say, "I am debtor." This can not be done through
any system of methods, neither are narrow interests or unexacting tasks
sufficient to arouse all that the soul has now to give. The great sweep
and mighty force of world movements are alone adequate for a soul in
touch with God and infinities.
There has never been a time in the history of Sunday School work when
there were such far reaching, thrilling movements through which to
appeal to manhood and womanhood as at the present time, and God's Hand
is not hidden in the matter.
The Adult Bible Class movement, enlisting the greatest company of
thinking men and women ever gathered for the study of the Word, is a
call to open loyalty to the Book and to the church, that is winning
recruits by the thousands.
The great Teacher Training movement, with its exacting standards and
high ideals of preparation, is leading the choicest young people to seek
the holy service of teaching.
The world encircling Missionary movements, the definite plan to give the
gospel to every man, woman and child in this generation, the marvellous
ingatherings already reported from the foreign field, the unparalleled
opportunities to make richest investment of life in the waking Orient,
these arouse the enthusiasm and conviction which issue in prayers and
gifts and pledge of Student Volunteers.
In our own land, the ethical awakening with its triumphs for Temperance
and civic righteousness, the great conventions and conferences held for
the Kingdom, the sweeping evangelistic campaigns with their trophies for
Christ, and the new life stirring in the church, movements all, God
initiated, God directed, throbbing with His Almighty power and revealing
the oncoming of His triumph, these give the challenge and the
inspiration to men and women, and response is coming in ever swelling
volume, "Here am I, send me!"
It is the crowning mission of the Sunday School to relate these great
interests to individual lives, and interpret for them the meaning in
terms of love and service. To whom shall the task be given? To the
teacher of transparent life, who can hold the world and the one in his
heart, who can read the signs of the times and the signs of the soul,
and who has nurtured with the Divine One through the years, to him shall
be given God's crowning task with an Unfolding Life.