Dear Friends,
Not having kids of my own, I’m not accustomed to being stumped on a regular basis as I imagine many parents are by children’s simple, yet profound questions. Last Sunday after our worship service, I had my own experience of what it’s like to get frozen in your tracks by one of these inquiries. Parents with their two young children approached me, with the father saying that his son had a question “he has waited to ask you all week.” The mother said, “Yeah, he asked us this question the other day, and we said ‘That would be a good one to ask Rev. Terry.”
Uh oh.
I knelt down and their young son approached me and, with disconcerting clarity, asked me this: “Why did God make people who build lots of buildings and take land away from the animals?” I drew a deep breath.
“That’s a really good question,” I responded. “I don’t think God knew that people might do that. People make big mistakes sometimes. We have to help each other do things differently. We have to teach each other to take care of the animals.”
My response wasn’t nearly as straightforward as his question, but it was the best I could manage on the spot. And, it got me thinking about what it means to have the ability to impact the lives of others – and what an awesome responsibility that is. As parents and adults, we all have the power to influence the values our children develop by our words and by example.
And, it was obvious by that observant question that what we do is what we teach . . . so I better pay very close attention to myself if I really want to leave the world in better shape for others.
Thank you for that reminder, Michael.
Yours,