Growth Spurt

Growth Spurt

John Paul Derryberry

When walking through our house while considering buying it, I couldn't help but notice the care and craft of creating a beautiful place. The problem was I wasn't looking for a house; I was looking for a home, and in my mind, those two things are different. A house is just walls, a roof, and a place to keep you safe at night-- a needed commodity, something we should consider guaranteeing to every citizen. A home is a place that does everything a house does and also allows us to grow as a person.

I meandered around the house, searching for any signs this could be a home; a place where my girls, my wife, and myself would grow as a person. I opened up a tall kitchen cabinet and saw maks; marks that indicated heights of children, from tiny humans to almost adults. It wasn't just one family's marks. It appeared that every family who ever lived in this dwelling had decided to carry on the tradition of marking kids' growth on the inside of this cabinet. In that moment, I knew I could call this place home, and we could carry on the same tradition with our kids. We could grow here as humans.

Measuring height growth spurts is easy. Just find a wall, a cabinet, stand by it periodically, make a mark, and measure between the new and old spot. It's not as easy with the more important stuff we should measure-- our growth as human beings. Are we more compassionate this year over last? Are we more forgiving of ourselves and others than the last time we checked? Are we more focused on the stuff that genuinely matters than the last time we placed a mark?

This type of growth determines whether society, our social circles, and our communities thrive and improve. Do we have a deeper understanding of our religious faith, to not condemn but provide hope to others? Do we examine who we support politically and decide they don't truly match our character no matter their party affiliation and stop investing? Do we study our resource allocation and see billionaires clamoring to go to space, while allowing homelessness to expand, and find that undeniably cruel?

Parts of us grow and shrink every day. We must always wonder which parts are shrinking and which parts are growing. You might find yourself one day surrounded by all the stuff you ever wanted but still have a hole in your soul about life. It means you didn't grow, didn't improve, didn't evolve into a better person. Unfortunately, there is no cabinet to mark our compassion height with a black marker every year. We have to be smart enough to surround ourselves with people who force us to grow the right way. If we do that enough over a long period, we will have a growth spurt that could change the world.