August 25, 2001
Column #1043
TAKE TIME TO LISTEN TO CHILDREN
What can children teach us about God,
spirituality and faith?
This summer Mrs. Eileen Marx took her 11
year-old son, Bobby, his 7-year-old sister Teresa, and two cousins, ages
7 and 9 to see the Oklahoma City Memorial. They were struck by the
beauty of the site. After walking around, a conversation ensued among
the cousins:
''Do you think God knew that Timothy McVeigh was going to set
off the bomb?'' asked Clare, 7.
''If He did, why didn't He stop him? asked Teresa.
Carly, 9, replied: ''Well, God lets each of us make up our own mind
and even though he knew Timothy McVeigh would do this...he had to
let him do what he made up his mind to do.''
''He probably didn't go to Church enough or to CCD (Sunday
School) class where you learn how to do good things instead of bad
things,'' Clare replied.
''I'm just wondering how his family feels about what he did,''
sighed Teresa. ''Do they think, 'Oh, no. Our son did this horrible
thing and he never seemed like he was sorry he did it.'''
''God only forgives you if you if your sorry, right?'' asked
Clare.
''He didn't look sorry when he was executed,'' said Carly,
''and I hate to say this, but I think that means he's going to
hell.''
Bobby, 11, who had been silent, spoke up: ''I
don't know if hell is like a hot place where bad people go. I think hell
for Timothy McVeigh would be to go through the museum and see what he
did to all those people, especially little kids who did nothing wrong.''
Mrs. Marx, who told this story to Catholic
Family Life directors meeting last week in Washington, added, ''It's
important to remember that 19 children died in the explosion, 30
children became orphans and another 219 children were left with only one
parent.''
As a mother, she hears questions from her
kids, which give invitations to share something of her family's Catholic
faith:
"'If Jesus was Jewish, why don't we celebrate Hanukkah?''
''Do you think it rains in heaven? What do you think it smells
like there?''
''How come Erin is only three and there's a chance she might
die?''
''If God is always right next to me, why doesn't He answer me
when I say Hi to Him?''
Jesus tells us to ''Be like little children.''
And ''Whoever does not accept the reign of God like a child shall not
take part in it.'' What does that mean? Mrs. Marx, as a teacher of the
fifth grade, (and a columnist and author), has ''learned a lot about God
through the eyes of children.''
Joey, when he was 10, taught her a new way to
look at death, for example: ''Okay, two things, Mrs. Marx. The first is
that I think you're right. Jesus is just as sad as we are when someone
we love dies. But you left something out. The second thing is that I
think Jesus must also be really happy after someone dies because for the
first time ever he's going to get to meet the person he created, face to
face. And that's going to be unbelievable!''
In walking around the block with her daughter,
then aged 3, she heard a question: ''Mom, do the flowers know to start
blooming or does God have to tell them?''
When they lived across from the street from a
family from El Salvador, Bobby asked, ''If the
Alvarez' are our neighbors, why don't we ever ask them to come over and
play with us like we ask the other neighbors?'' They had an invitation
the next day, because children know what it means to ''love your
neighbor.''
A national survey, ''The State of our Nation's
Youth'' by the Horatio Alger Association, found 84 percent of teens
predict future success depends on whether they have close family
relationships. A quarter of teens said school violence is caused by
parents spending too little time with their children, second only to the
bullying of students by others.
Comments by children are important in the
Oklahoma City Memorial.
Visitors can read the words of Kristin
Bramble, a young Oklahoma girl, who recited her original poem at the
initial prayer service, four days after the bombing:
I am the voice of the children -
simple and honest and clear.
Forever the light in the darkest of night.
I have not gone away. I am here.
Remember the trust of the children.
Darkness will not have its day,
Take hold of my hand, and we'll both understand
That the children will show you the way.
Copyright 2001 Michael J. McManus. |
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