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Friends and supporters show their emotion while attending a memorial service in Beason, Ill., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. A couple and three of their children were found brutally slain inside their home in this tiny central Illinois farming community, and authorities warned residents Tuesday to lock their doors at night while investigators try to identify possible suspects. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children.
Marianne Williamson
A vital part of any spiritual path includes praying for others. Praying for others takes us outside of ourselves to look at the larger world. While substitute teaching I found myself praying for the kids in the lunchroom and suddenly thought of a man from my congregation years ago.
Every Sunday J. lifted this prayer up during the communal prayer, "Lord, keep all young men and women out of harm's way." J. was an older man as handsome as Morgan Freeman but with a soft southern accent. His brother was on trial for knowing the wrong people and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but J.'s prayers were for the larger community there in Charlotte. Because their family store had been in a dicey part of the city, J. had seen one too many youth gunned down by bullets or drugs. The streets of the city are hard and tough. Fast paced and dangerous with so many place to hid in the dark streets, many think that these troubles don't reach beyond a certain neighborhood or the city limits.
While the city life is often faster paced and filled with more opportunities for mischief, the daring of the young knows no bounds; no city or town limits stop youth from feeling invincible. Yesterday I asked a teacher a question that led him to talk about his son and a foundation he and his wife have founded called Connor's H.E.A.R.T. I asked if Connor had heart problems and then heard the tragic story that Connor had died from "the choking game". This young man was not from the mean city streets, but a resident in a small secluded town in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.
Later the same day, Facebook friends commented on McKenzie Phillips' latest announcement of incest as a publicity stunt. While only Phillips knows the truth of her statement, the reality is that instances of inappropriate sexual behavior, molestation, rape and incest happen to both sexes of children. If your son/grandson/nephew/brother or your daughter/granddaughter/niece/sister ever talks to you about a sexual problem, do not doubt the child. If a child has bruises that seem unusual, ask the child what happened so that they are not being bullied or abused by another. You are their protector. You are the one they need to be able to trust. You are their hope.
The irony of this, is that children are our hope. Life is hard for all human beings and in our busy world not only are our children exposed to more outside influences through the internet, television and other media, many are often left alone while both parents work just to get by in this day's economy. Even when a parent stays home, there is no way to anticipate all of the challenges a child faces in the course of an ordinary day.
Looking out on a sea of teenagers at lunch, the energy of life is palpable, noisy, boisterous and for the most part happy. But if you look closer and more carefully, there are students sitting alone and sad. Over in the corner is a young man seeking to impress the boys who throw things at him. In the upper level, a group of girls are consoling each other and you can see the concern in each girl's eyes. Yes, some of the events are the challenges of growing up and learning how to work and move among others. Sometimes however, the adults have not taken a child or a teen seriously and the only person the child can turn to is another child or a teenager.
These children may not be my children or yours, but they are our hope, our future goodness. Paul tells us that we ALL are children of God. We are one family. My friend, J., died many years ago after a long battle with emphysema and yet, in this moment I can hear his voice praying, "Lord, protect all young men and women standing in harm's way."
If you want to work for world peace, go home and love your families.
Mother Teresa
Each of us must come to care about everyone else's children. We must recognize that the welfare of our children is intimately linked to the welfare of all other people's children. After all, when one of our children needs life-saving surgery, someone else's child will perform it. If one of our children is harmed by violence, someone else's child will be responsible for the violent act. The good life for our own children can be secured only if a good life is also secured for all other people's children.
Lilian Katz, Dir. of the ERIC Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Education
Child Abuse and Neglect: signs and Symptoms
Symptoms of Sexual Disturbance Among Children
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)
Games Adolscents Shouldn't Play (GASP)
Connor's H.E.A.R.T. (Help Eliminate Adolescent Risk Taking)
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