© John Denney, 20 November
1998
Those of us who
are parents will understand the joke that says “Madness is
hereditary. You inherit it from your children”. Having
children causes all sorts of problems. Choosing a name for
your child is difficult enough. You have to choose a name
that will suit them, whatever their path in life. You have
to watch out for initials that spell something unfortunate.
And there are names that you just can’t choose, like Adolf,
I suppose.
And it
doesn’t stop there. Children are a great
responsibility. You have to wash them and change them, feed
them and nurse them, clothe them and teach them. The one
thing you don’t have to do as a parent is to love
them, because that love comes naturally. It’s one of
the strongest attachments known to mankind. Parents are
willing to sacrifice their own lives to protect their children.
That’s why
news reports of the abuse and even the murders of young children
cause us such anger. It’s a denial of everything that
children mean to us, our hopes for the future. Only
yesterday there were news reports that a grave had been uncovered
in Colombia that contained the bodies of thirteen street
children. In that country, it seems, if you’re a child
who’s so poor that you haven’t got a roof over your
head, then that’s enough to make you a murder target for
vigilante gangs.
That sort of
cruelty is so unnatural that we are appalled and angered by it.
But here in Leicester and Leicestershire there are children who
have to roam the cold streets after school until a parent comes
home and lets them in. There are children who are
inadequately fed, who miss out on things like learning to play a
musical instrument, or school trips abroad, even proper places to
play in safety. It’s often not the fault of the
parents, who sacrifice their own well-being to provide the basics
for their children. But if you’re bringing up a family
on your own with only state benefits to sustain you, life is one
long uphill struggle.
It’s
Children in Need day today, which aims to provide things for
children who genuinely need them. Let’s give
generously. It’s what God wants. Jesus had a
special place in his heart for children. “Bring the
little children to Me”, He said, “For to such belongs
the kingdom of heaven.”