After writing about heroes a little bit yesterday, and their influence upon us, I began thinking about the kids. The thought came to mind, are we teaching our children too much,too soon ? Could that be the cause of some of the issues we are experiencing ? Knowledge is a good thing right ? Can it be harmful to teach the children too much,too soon ? What could be wrong with that ?
The things I am thinking about however are not really knowledge based. Teaching our children to read and write, that sort of thing is essential. What I am thinking about is more in the line of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I believe that kids should believe in that sort of thing, for a while anyway. It is a presentation of what may be possible. Given time, children figure it out for themselves. What's the hurry to remove those dreams ? All too often today the very existence of God is questioned, What are children to think ? Is that why so many feel there is no place to turn ? So many without hope ? It is a thought that scares me and I fear for the future.
Setting aside the fictional characters of our childhood is a natural part of growth. We determine for ourselves the reality of the situation. Were we disappointed ? I don't think I was. I do think I thought what a cool thing my parents had done for me in perpetuating the myth. Had me fooled ,for a little while. It was the lesson that was learned that was of importance. All things are possible, if you believe. Will all things happen ? No, learned that lesson too. And we learned to accept that, be grateful for what we did receive, and move forward. It is a lesson we weren't aware of at the time but a lesson that follows us in life.
The same was true of our real life heroes. We looked up to them and tried to be like them. Whether that hero was Mom and Dad or some sports figure, we wanted to act like them. The difference back then was we didn't hear every little detail of their lives. Dads were Dads and Moms were Moms. It isn't quite so clear today. Children were to be seen and not heard ! Children were not privy to " adult " conversation. Adult conversation was about money, or other personal issues and of no concern to children. That is as it should be. Let adults deal with adult issues and the children with childhood. What was wrong with that ?
I think that today we tend to teach the children to be leary of anything they can't see. In other words, a lack of faith. We teach them to seek only the facts. And we tell them, all the facts. Perhaps we are telling too many facts ! Too many, too soon. I believe we should give the children more time to fully understand the facts before we affirm those facts. Children know a whole lot more than we often give them credit for. Is it because we feel we need to show our superiority ? Just who are we trying to impress ? Think about when you were a child. You knew about certain things but didn't let Mom and Dad know that. Why ? The reason was a simple one. You didn't feel it necessary to state the obvious. There are some things that do not require discussion. Discussion is normally the result of doubt. When we doubt we talk about it. If we talk about a subject long enough we can find justification for just about any action. We can find others to support whatever view we wish to take.
It is a funny thing about knowledge. The more you know, the less you think you know. Knowledge should lead you to explore the possibilities. But knowledge needs a foundation and that foundation should be faith. Faith in yourself and faith in your fellow man. Teaching our children to not trust their fellow man and make decisions based solely on the facts is not conducive to growth. We need hope and faith. Yes and the Bible also says, Charity. These three, and the greatest of these is love. That is why we should provide heroes for our children. From heroes we learn Faith, acquire Hope, and learn to love. Heroes have faults, we learn that over time but more importantly , we learn to love them despite their faults. We try to be them and our faults come to light. Then we learn to love ourselves despite our faults. And it is only when we learn to love ourselves, that we can truly learn to love another. Did we love our heroes ? No, I would say we admired them. And from admiration comes love.
The things I am thinking about however are not really knowledge based. Teaching our children to read and write, that sort of thing is essential. What I am thinking about is more in the line of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I believe that kids should believe in that sort of thing, for a while anyway. It is a presentation of what may be possible. Given time, children figure it out for themselves. What's the hurry to remove those dreams ? All too often today the very existence of God is questioned, What are children to think ? Is that why so many feel there is no place to turn ? So many without hope ? It is a thought that scares me and I fear for the future.
Setting aside the fictional characters of our childhood is a natural part of growth. We determine for ourselves the reality of the situation. Were we disappointed ? I don't think I was. I do think I thought what a cool thing my parents had done for me in perpetuating the myth. Had me fooled ,for a little while. It was the lesson that was learned that was of importance. All things are possible, if you believe. Will all things happen ? No, learned that lesson too. And we learned to accept that, be grateful for what we did receive, and move forward. It is a lesson we weren't aware of at the time but a lesson that follows us in life.
The same was true of our real life heroes. We looked up to them and tried to be like them. Whether that hero was Mom and Dad or some sports figure, we wanted to act like them. The difference back then was we didn't hear every little detail of their lives. Dads were Dads and Moms were Moms. It isn't quite so clear today. Children were to be seen and not heard ! Children were not privy to " adult " conversation. Adult conversation was about money, or other personal issues and of no concern to children. That is as it should be. Let adults deal with adult issues and the children with childhood. What was wrong with that ?
I think that today we tend to teach the children to be leary of anything they can't see. In other words, a lack of faith. We teach them to seek only the facts. And we tell them, all the facts. Perhaps we are telling too many facts ! Too many, too soon. I believe we should give the children more time to fully understand the facts before we affirm those facts. Children know a whole lot more than we often give them credit for. Is it because we feel we need to show our superiority ? Just who are we trying to impress ? Think about when you were a child. You knew about certain things but didn't let Mom and Dad know that. Why ? The reason was a simple one. You didn't feel it necessary to state the obvious. There are some things that do not require discussion. Discussion is normally the result of doubt. When we doubt we talk about it. If we talk about a subject long enough we can find justification for just about any action. We can find others to support whatever view we wish to take.
It is a funny thing about knowledge. The more you know, the less you think you know. Knowledge should lead you to explore the possibilities. But knowledge needs a foundation and that foundation should be faith. Faith in yourself and faith in your fellow man. Teaching our children to not trust their fellow man and make decisions based solely on the facts is not conducive to growth. We need hope and faith. Yes and the Bible also says, Charity. These three, and the greatest of these is love. That is why we should provide heroes for our children. From heroes we learn Faith, acquire Hope, and learn to love. Heroes have faults, we learn that over time but more importantly , we learn to love them despite their faults. We try to be them and our faults come to light. Then we learn to love ourselves despite our faults. And it is only when we learn to love ourselves, that we can truly learn to love another. Did we love our heroes ? No, I would say we admired them. And from admiration comes love.
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