| What Did You Tell Your Child? |
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Some favorite expressions of small children: “It’s not my fault. . . They made me do it. . . I
forgot.” Some favorite expressions of adults: “It’s not my job. . .
No one told me. . . It couldn’t be helped.” True freedom begins and ends with personal
accountability.
I wish more of us really understood the meaning of this. The world would be a lot better
off and those who are suffering might not be waiting for merciful relief.
When a child seeks “being let off the hook” we correctly assume that they are too young
to realize the neglect and harm that it does to others, but when adults decide that other
people’s lives are not as important as their own and that they only have enough time to
be concerned about their personal civil rights, I think we need to be worried.
A man that I was taught to respect early in life was Caesar Chavez. Among his insightful
opinions I never forgot was one concerning justice. He said, “People who have lost their
hunger for are not ultimately powerful. They are like sick people who have lost their
appetite for what is truly nourishing. Such sick people should not frighten or discourage
us. They should be prayed for along with the sick people who are in the hospital. The
love of justice that is in us not only the best part of our being but it is also the most true
to our nature.
What are we really nurturing in the nature of our children?
Children try to understand not only what is happening to them but why; and in doing that,
they call upon the religious life they have experienced, the spiritual values they have
received. A renowned psychiatrist and professor at Harvard, Robert Coles, spoke about
his earliest awareness of the religious and spiritual reflection child. I would like to share it
with you.
It’s all relative!
forgot.” Some favorite expressions of adults: “It’s not my job. . .
No one told me. . . It couldn’t be helped.” True freedom begins and ends with personal
accountability.
I wish more of us really understood the meaning of this. The world would be a lot better
off and those who are suffering might not be waiting for merciful relief.
When a child seeks “being let off the hook” we correctly assume that they are too young
to realize the neglect and harm that it does to others, but when adults decide that other
people’s lives are not as important as their own and that they only have enough time to
be concerned about their personal civil rights, I think we need to be worried.
A man that I was taught to respect early in life was Caesar Chavez. Among his insightful
opinions I never forgot was one concerning justice. He said, “People who have lost their
hunger for are not ultimately powerful. They are like sick people who have lost their
appetite for what is truly nourishing. Such sick people should not frighten or discourage
us. They should be prayed for along with the sick people who are in the hospital. The
love of justice that is in us not only the best part of our being but it is also the most true
to our nature.
What are we really nurturing in the nature of our children?
Children try to understand not only what is happening to them but why; and in doing that,
they call upon the religious life they have experienced, the spiritual values they have
received. A renowned psychiatrist and professor at Harvard, Robert Coles, spoke about
his earliest awareness of the religious and spiritual reflection child. I would like to share it
with you.
It’s all relative!
| What Did You Tell Your Child and are You listening to What They are Telling You? |