Pity the Fool
Fool
Folly
Foolishness
Vanity
Pride
These are the things everyone has inside.
They need to be driven out,
Or at least managed.
That is the job of a parent.
The teacher. The pastor.
Be determined, tenacious, and courageous.
Be careful! Each child is vulnerable.
Smothered in shadow or scorched in the sun,
They wither rootlessly and waste away.
Untended they grow like a weed,
Choking out the good growth.
If you don't keep a sharp eye
Birds of prey snatch innocence.
Few things again pierce a well trodden heart.
It's a high wire act.
One wrong step could be devastating.
Structure could become a prison.
Guidance could become tyranny.
Discipline could become oppression.
Let them run free range with wide open fences.
In the end it's their choice.
Demonstrate how to choose wisely.
They may or may not.
It's not your responsibility.
It's not your fault.
On the one hand, yes, and I'm definitely with you on being a good role model. But on the other hand no, because a child with no boundaries will push until he finds some. We are all innately bestowed with a sense of right, and we need that reinforced, and we need to learn that actions beget consequences, so that we can make a fair assessment of whether or not a particular action is one we choose to pursue. When children are too young to make this judgement for themselves and take into consideration all the consequences, we owe it to them to put boundaries in place which forsee the outcomes and support them in making positive choices. It's what parenting is (meant) to be about. It's unfair to neglect this responsibility and does the child no favours in the end.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a well reasoned comment. I agree with what you're saying. I wrote this quickly. In the short time and space, I was trying to touch on many various point and balance them while weaving in the Parable of the sower and the Seed. Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. Proverbs 20:11 Society puts the whole responsibility on parents. There are outside influences and bad choices made by the child even when the consequences are known. I am all for loving, gentle boundaries, discipline, and training, but(I cor 13) without love it's a clanging cymbal. Those who have taken these proper principles to a cruel extreme have caused a backlash that has me talking on eggshells.
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