Chapter 1, Children Today Speak Up

What did you think of this chapter? Did you feel as if your own childhood was sheltered and you lived in a world of fun and fantasy? Do you look at today's children, shake your head, and cry out, "Oh, if only we could go back to the way it was. Things were so nice back when I was little."

Or, was your childhood experience a little different? Do realize that no time in history has ever been perfect, and children have always needed the love of God, the security the church can and should bring to their lives, and the knowledge that someone hears them when they speak up.

As you read this chapter, what, if anything, leaps out at you? Heusser and Heusser write, "Today's children do not live in a secure world of fun and fantasy. They live with the reality of the world before them daily. They are continuously exposed to its harshness."

It's been said that this is a change that took place during the Vietnam War, when the daily death counts were given on the news and war was played out in our living rooms for the very first time. Media has changed our exposure to the world. As has the increase in single parent households, children being raised by people other than their parents, and children left unattended while their parents are at work.

Heusser and Heusser speak of the technological world, but they wrote their book prior to the computers we know today, the World Wide Web at our fingertips, and cell phones in our pockets. Anything that children want to know, they google or bing. They don't have to whisper in the hallways at school or hope that their big brothers and sisters will tell them. They can find out for themselves. And you can bet that they're not googling questions about how God loves them or when Jesus fed 5000 people on a hillside.

Pay close attention to the questions asked by the authors. They may give you some important insight.

And page 11 brings up essential info regarding the need for love. The authors write, with regards to negative influences, "The force of these events can be lessened if a child feels the security that comes from receiving love and care. this sense of personal security and worth develops as the child is held and touched, talked with and listened to, and cared for tenderly."

How many children in our world are not receiving this personal security and worth? How many children in our churches are not feeling listened to, not feeling that tender care? And how easily can we reach out to them with openness, tenderness, love, compassion?

Many children's lives have been changed because of the influence of one person. Perhaps that person will be you.

May the strength of the Spirit flow within your veins this day.

Tamalyn

Children as Partners... Foreword

Some of you have had ample time in which to order your books. Others have just joined us on this journey, so you may need a little more time for shipping. Remember, the book is out of print, but used copies are available at amazon.com.

If you want to skip ahead, here's the Foreword, which is written by Marian Wright Edelman. Many of you will know her from the Children's Defense Fund.

Think about Edelman's words - that when she was a child, children were taught, not by sermonizing, but by personal example. Has this been your experience? If so, how? And how do you experience that in the church now? How have we brought this tradition into the future?

Can you imagine taking children to the bedsides of the very ill to tend to their bedsores? It seems that we've worked very hard to shield our children from all that is unsanitary, frightening, unpalatable. Have we done them a disservice?

Edelman says, "I went and learned early just how much the smallest helping hands and kindness can mean to a person in need."

What lessons are now missing in today's society? Today's churches?

How could we teach these valuable lessons while still protecting our children?

What legacies are we leaving the children of today? Madonna sang that we are living in a material world. Is this the legacy we're leaving our children, rather than the lesson of which Edelman speaks, the lessons of "a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and perseverance, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity?"

As we begin this study, take a look at your own preconceptions of our society, your personal gifts, the role the church plays in influencing children, and how that all works together to teach children faith and values.

Edelman has set a good goal for us. She writes, "All children should be helped to realize that their compassionate service with and for others is needed. All children should experience the welcome, love, and acceptance of congregation members."

So, put on your working boots, folks. We've a big job ahead of us. But, we've a very capable Spirit to guide us.

Taking a deep breath,
Tamalyn