PREAMBLE

PREAMBLE

“Teach a child in the way he should go;

And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

These words taken from Proverb 22:6 speak loudly of the responsibility of parents and caregivers to the children entrusted to them. In these modern days with the advent of such a large and diverse selection of electronic gadgets, our children are bombarded with so many distractions from every direction that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their spiritual development.

We as adults, often overwhelmed by the demands for survival, are guilty of neglecting our responsibilities of ensuring our children’s growth. We are losing sight of the fact that at this stage children are at their most receptive phase for absorbing information and unless we make an effort to help them, they are likely to acquire wrong information from other sources.

I believe no one is better equipped or better placed to do the job than the parent or the caregiver. By making use of every opportunity to teach the words of Jesus Christ, to read the Holy Bible as well as by setting personal examples we can build our children’s faith and offer them alternative examples to live by. In this way we can prepare them to deal with the many and varied temptations they will face in life as they go forward.

These stories under the banner “The Old Lady and Ana” grew out of a discussion I had with my cousin Starr Sabga during which we lamented that our children are not being exposed to reading and discussing the bible as we were. We both felt that as a result of this we are missing a very important opportunity to expose them to God’s words and running the risk of losing them.

The stories are strictly my interpretation of selected passages from the Bible based on my Christian education and on my own life experience. They are meant for the younger child, as examples of how we may use day to day experiences to learn about God’s word. They are by no means exhaustive but I trust they may serve to get other parents and caregivers to do the same.

If this happens, then I would consider myself fully rewarded.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

7. THE OLD LADY AND ANA -MATTHEW 5:43-48(Love your Enemy)

Little Ana sat quietly next to her father in front the television. It was 6.30pm and the NBC Nightly News had just begun. Once again, as he had done last night and the night before, Brian Williams began by reporting about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the destruction caused by the enemy. He then went on to report about the condition of the enemy prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay. Ana got up and went directly to her Grandmother who was absorbed in the scarf she was knitting.

“Gramma”, she asked, “Everybody is saying we should hate our enemies because they are killing our soldiers. Is that true? ”

The old lady, sensing a genuine concern in her grand-daughter’s voice, put down her knitting and beckoned Ana to sit next to her. She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts and then as she picked up her bible said:

“My dear Ana, yes it is true that most people still hate their enemies and prefer them to be punished or killed because of what they believe, or what they do. But that is not what God teaches, or expects from us. We do this because we do not have the courage or strength to be true Christians and follow his words and his example. In fact if you check the bible Jesus specifically commented on this problem in this way":
(Reading from Matthew5:43)




You have heard that it was said,
'Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.'

“He was referring to the teachings of the Pharisees and the Scribes who were the leaders of the Jews. They taught, as we still do presently, that all enemies and evil doers must be punished and as a result of this, the community was consumed in hatred and retribution. But Jesus rejected this outright and said so in these terms:”




But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

“You notice Jesus very clearly stated that you must love your enemy and even went further by advising you to pray for those who persecute you. This is the exact opposite of what the Pharisees were doing. This must have surprised the audience a great deal, but you see Jesus was telling us that this is what God expected of us, and that if we really wanted to be true Christians, true children of God, we are obligated to do so”.

Ana, somewhat stunned by this revelation looked intently at her grandmother and with the innocence and simplicity of her tender age, asked:

“Do you mean that God wants us to love everybody in the same way. That we must love and pray for everybody, even though they don’t like us or want to hurt us. How could that be right or fair?”

Anticipating this, the old lady quickly answered by reading the next verse:




He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

“God does not make a difference between good and bad. We are all his children and God loves us all in the same way. When Christ died on the cross for our sins, he made no discrimination between anyone of us, he forgave us all. In fact, if you remember, he forgave a thief who was crucified next to him and promised him a place in heaven. God’s love is infinite, it has no boundaries. That is what this verse is saying. The sun will rise and the rain will fall whether we are good or bad, or we are right or wrong. It makes no difference to God’s love, he will treat us the same”.

The old lady paused for a short while to allow Ana to assimilate the information, and continued to read:




If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?
Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers,
what are you doing more than others?
Do not even pagans do that?


“God is very clear about what he expects from us. He said what good is it if we only love those who love us. Even the taxpayers, who in those days were considered the worst, do the same. And again, are you doing any better if you only greet your brother, even the non-believers do this. He wants you to make no distinction, your love must be even and universal”.


Ana, with both hands cupping her face and eyes wide open in disbelief, exclaimed:

“Wow gramma! God expects so much from us!”

The old lady responded by nodding her head in confirmation as she continued reading:




Be perfect therefore,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.

“You are correct, If we are true followers and true believers then we must recognize that by dying for us, God has earned us the right to be like him. In the same way that he forgave all and unconditionally loves all in a perfect way, he expects us to be perfect. We have no excuses, if we want to be a true Christian then our love must be without condition or boundaries”.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Ana stood up, thanked her grandmother and as she walked away, she looked directly at the television and said in a firm and determined voice:

“I only wish someone would remind Brian Williams to stop talking only about how we are punishing our enemies and start thinking about how God expects us to treat them”.
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