Many centuries ago, two teenage boys decided to play trick on one of the wise old philosopher who wandered about the Agora, or market place, of ancient Athens. They captured a tiny bird. Afterwards, they approached the wise old man as one of them held the bird in his hands behind his back where the old man can’t see it. Then approaching the old man he said,”Wise man of Athens, I have in my hands a bird. Tell me, is it dead or is it alive?”
If the old man said,”Dead,” the boy would open his hands and let the bird fly away, proving the old man wrong. If, on the other hand, he said,”Alive,” then crunch! The boy would squeeze the little bird to death and then hold it up. They were quite certain that they could make a fool of him either way.
“I have a bird in my hands. Tell us, wise man, is it dead or alive?” the two boys challenged the old man. By noww a crowd had gathered to watch this confrontation of wisdom and foolishness.
The old man thought pensively for a moment, then looking into the face of the lad holding the bird replied,”I know not whether the bord is dead or alive, but this I know: Its life is in your hands.” (taken from Harold J. Sala’s “The Parent Map: Navigating the Way to Raising Great Kids”)
Dear co-parents, our responsibility to bring up our children is so tremendous it could mean their success or “demise” in this troubled world. It is even “non-transferrable” (hint: school, teacher, spiritual counselor) and “non-delayable” (hint: when he/she is seven or when he/she becomes a teen). It’s a daily nitty-gritty-grinding head-butting decision to be the “best” parents we can be to their impressionable minds.
Sounds scary? Not if we seek daily God’s grace and strength for our family journey. After all, it is God’s divine plan that our children become “our” children, so His grace is sufficient for each one of us. And whatever we lacked or over-looked, we still can pray that God blesses the seeds of love we have sown in their hearts to overcome those.
God bless us families.
