Vote 2026: Finding the Adult in the Room

 I remember well the Where’s Wally? books. They were something of a favourite with our young family. We had loads of fun seeing who could be first to spot Wally in the crowd.

Well, it’s all kind of similar with election season upon us again. It’s not exactly Where’s Wally?, but it’s close enough! It’s now see if you can spot the adult in the room!

That may not be as easy as it seems. Especially so if you are not conversant with some of the true characteristics and qualities of maturity. In my opinion, if you cannot recognise what a woman is, you will definitely not be off to a good start with this one!

The Solomon Islands, with their nine provinces, is an interesting country. It stretches over 1450 - 1500 kilometres of South Pacific Ocean. It is a nation I have visited many times, over close to three decades. With all my travels, the only emergency landing I have ever been in, happened up in the Solomons.

On one of my visits, I asked some of the men present from the different provinces to write down for me what it meant to become a man. In their culture, when was a boy considered to have become a man? When was he considered mature enough to be recognised as an adult?

It all made for some very interesting reading, especially so when I compared it to our own Kiwi culture! None of theirs mentioned anything about reaching a special birthday, like a 21st.

Yes, there were some subtle differences as you would expect. But the most common quality was this; he was considered to have become a man when he could build his own house and then provide for and take care of his family. He could take up the responsibility of working the gardens, or the sea, so those in his house were fed.

I was instructed many years ago that the beginning of maturity starts with the acceptance of responsibility. And you can easily see that with this example from the Solomons I have just used above.

Yep, age has never determined maturity, a person can be 40 yet still be so immature.

However, in today’s world taking personal responsibility seems to get shunned big time. It’s never my fault. I’m the victim of other people messing it up big time, even if the stuff happened centuries ago.

Of course, with politicians it’s never their fault. It’s the previous government’s fault; they’re the ones to blame for the mess we are in. But, true to form, that lot also blamed the previous government before they had their turn!

Continually blowing hot air through your own trumpet instead of actually fixing the problems is not a sign of maturity either.

One of my very favourite quotes that touches on this stuff, comes from Thomas Sowell. Here it is; “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”

Wise words indeed!

Like others, I am still weighing up exactly how to cast my two votes. I’m looking to see if I can find an adult in the room! I’d suggest you do the same.

Again, like many before me, and now those here at this moment, we have learned there is One who has ‘walked through the fire’ before us. Who better to walk with us!

Keep well and God bless.

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