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.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

22. THE OLD LADY AND ANA-EPHESIANS 4:26-32 (Do not be Angry)

Ana sat next to her grand mother who was watching a popular television program about a family where there was so much anger and conflict among its members that it was breaking apart. It seemed that that no more love or trust existed within the family, there was only hate and animosity. After the program was completed, Ana turned to her grand mother and said:

“Gramma I feel so bad for the children in the family. Everyone was so angry that the children were always afraid and had no respect for the parents. Does God say anything about angry people?”

The old lady listened carefully and holding the child’s hand, pulled her closer while she picked up her favorite bible and replied:

“Yes indeed child, God is a God of love and peace, and always condemns this kind of anger that gives rise to pain and suffering. You must remember that all anger is not bad because sometimes anger may be justified in the presence of wrong doing. But when anger becomes sinful or malicious it results in suffering and destruction of people, friends and families. The Holy Bible contains many references to God’s attitude toward anger but perhaps the best advice about anger is contained in St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4, paragraphs 25 to 32. Let us read what he said:”


When you are angry, do not sin,
and be sure to stop being angry
before the end of the day.
Do not give the devil a way to defeat you.

“You see Ana, God did not condemn all anger. It is when anger becomes sinful or malicious you allow the devil to take hold and this is when damage is done, because this kind of anger leads to other sins of evil, injustice, pain and suffering. This is why St. Paul advises that whatever the reason, we must never carry our anger over to the next day.”

Ana appeared to be confused, this was too much to assimilate as she tried to separate “good anger” from “bad anger”. Looking directly at the kind old lady’s face, she asked:

“Gramma what do we have to do to be sure that we do not disappoint God?”

The old lady anticipating the question, nodded affirmatively and continued to read from Verse 29:


When you talk, do not say harmful things,
but say what people need—
Words that will help others become stronger.
Then what you say will do good
to those who listen to you.

“The first advice is to only speak good of people and never say things that will harm or hurt others. When you speak good of people they become stronger and are better respected. So that you must always remember whatever you say will have effect on others.”

The old lady paused and looked over to her grand child who, by this time, was becoming much less perturbed and after a brief period continued to read Verses 30 and 31:


And do not make the Holy Spirit sad.
The Spirit is God's proof that you belong to him.
God gave you the Spirit to show
that God will make you free when the final day comes.
Do not be bitter or angry or mad.
Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others.
Never do anything evil.

“St. Paul is reminding us that as God’s children we inherit his spirit so that when we sin we make him sad. The spirit is our bond to secure our place in the final day when we come to God. This is why we must not be bitter, or angry, or mad or shout at people or say hurtful things to anybody. We must never allow ourselves to sin or do anything evil to anyone. All these things will offend God.”

By this time, Ana was beaming with joy and happiness, for she was beginning to understand why being angry is not a good state to be in. Her grand mother turned to her and continued to read Verse 32:


Be kind and loving to each other,
and forgive each other
just as God forgave you in Christ.

“This therefore my child is what God, our all-loving and all-forgiving God, expects from every one of us who want to be counted among his children; -We must be kind and loving to one another and we must be ready and willing to forgive one another as God himself forgives us over and over for our own transgressions. There is no place for anger in our hearts in the same way there is no anger in God’s heart.”

With a deep sigh of relief and with obvious gratitude toward her grand mother for taking time to teach her about God’s love, Ana got up and with her hands held high, exclaimed:

“I promise I will always love and respect everybody, and I will never get angry with anyone!”
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