BBC
Radio Leicester Thought for the Day pre-recorded
©
John Denney 29 July 2004
Things
have changed a lot since I was a boy. In
1960 – OK I was more of a teenager than a boy, except teenagers had only just
started to emerge as a distinct species! – there was a survey of the greatest
fears of secondary school children. This
was repeated in 2000. The results were:
|
1960 |
2000 |
|
Being
in a dark room; High
places; Strangers; and
loud noises. |
Divorce; Nuclear
War; Pollution; and
being mugged. |
Isn’t
that sad? Over the years, the world has
become an uncomfortable place. The
innocence and security of my childhood has more or less gone for the present
generation of schoolchildren.
I
wonder whether the decline of the traditional family, with a mother and father
who stay together through thick and thin, parents who put their children’s
interests above their own is part of this.
It’s not a new thing though. In
the 1840s, Charles Francis Adams, a great American diplomat, wrote this in his
diary: “Went fishing with my son today - a day wasted.” On the same day, his son Brook Adams wrote in
his diary: “Went fishing with my
father - the most wonderful day of my life!”
Maybe
what children most need today is time and attention from both their
parents. In the United Kingdom today
nearly three million children, staggeringly, are being brought up with just one
of their parents. The honest fact is
that it is the father who is most often missing from the lives of these
children. Lack of a good rôle model will
cost those children – and the country – dear; for today’s children will be
running the country in thirty years’ time.
There’s
another thing. Children brought up
without a constant, reliable father-figure in their lives are going to find it
hard to understand the constant love of our Father in heaven. If your natural parent isn’t there to show
his love for you, how hard will it be to accept our heavenly Father’s
love. Saint Paul said this: Mostly what God
does is love you. Keep company
with him and learn a life of love.
Observe how Christ loved us. His
love was not cautious but
extravagant. He didn't love in
order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that[1]. It’s been said that the trouble with
children is that when they're not being a lump in your throat, they're being a
pain in your neck. But let’s cherish our
children, and strive for a more loving world for them to flourish in.