Sunday, April 28, 2013

Pentecostal Prayer Day 26

I can honestly understand prejudice against those who attempt to turn our children away from our own paths. As the responsible party in their actions, we are hard pressed to keep up with all of the changes they naturally cycle through; it is much more difficult to keep up with the changes going on outside them and our own societies. How much more important it is to stay close to them in multiculturalism than it was in singular societal influences.

I have thought for many years that bringing up children is like living a PG-13 movie; we must stay available to discuss what they saw and what we hold dear as messages that we want them to incorporate into their own lives. Without this constant piece in their perceptions of the universe, they will often go adrift in a vast sea of uncertainty about their goals and their paths to reach the way points.

Making multiculturalism against the law is irrelevant to those who take the time to really listen and learn from their children. We are here to ask them questions about how their experiences mesh with the values that keep them feeling a part of our family's and friend's universe. We are not here to frighten them away from anything outside our understanding; otherwise, our values die from lack of growth and incorporation into their evolved realities.

How sad it is that, as the universe throws more complexity at our youth, our young people seem to have fewer elders who will take the time to listen to and guide them. Our communities must expand with the universe, not contract to fit ancestral molds and modes of behavior. Unless we diligently search for the universal kernels of truth in all humanity in all human eras, we will lose, not only our children, but the whole of humanity.

My prayer for Pentecost is that our eyes become open to eternal, universal, responsible, compassionate community for all of creation.