I grew up on a dead end street on the South Shore of
Long Island, perfect for playing ball in the summer and sledding in the winter.
It seemed to be an inevitable badge of childhood that all of us would
eventually sport a scar on one or both knees from tripping on the curbs that
were marked as 1st and 3rd bases. The block had many
young families, so I grew up with enough friends to make two teams of whatever
we chose to play. We were fiercely competitive, but the make-up of the teams were
never the same, as players were interchangeable, one team to the other.
We certainly had our fights, but they never lasted
long if we wanted to continue to play our games. We needed one another, so whatever
grievances we held against each other were quickly forgotten so we could resume
our play.
Why, as we grow older, do we lose this capacity to
forgive and forget? Why do we harbor resentments for so long? When did we stop
seeing that we are all, ultimately, on the same team?
This hit home for me as I watched the State of the
Union address. When did we devolve from having civility in the chambers to cat-calls
and taunting? When did Thanksgiving dinners begin to need referees or rules
about what we can and can’t talk about? When did we grow so polarized that we
have forgotten we are on the same team?
I can’t help but wonder about what we are modeling to
our children. Do our actions model respect when we interrupt a speaker? Are we
teaching tolerance of difference when we dismiss and dehumanize those we
disagree with? Are we helping our children grow into adults that will lean into
hard conversations with humility and curiosity?
Jesus reserved some of his harshest words to for those
who mistreat children:
“I’m
telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start
over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let
alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will
rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my
account, it’s the same as receiving me.
“But if you give them
a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon
wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a
millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children
a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and
it’s doomsday to you if you do.” (Matthew 18: 3-7, The Message)
This week,
consider what your words and actions are teaching the children around you. And
then, take time to consider what the children in your life might be trying to
teach you about God and a life of faith.
