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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Safely in the Corner Pocket

Prince William and Kate with Responsiblity
When was the last time you felt like the three monkeys: “See-no evil” (hands over eyes), “Hear-no-evil” (hands in ears) and “Speak-no-evil” (hands on mouth)? Which monkey are you like? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1295).


My affliction and I think that of many others is not necessarily obliviousness to evil, but obliviousness to simple fact and what is appropriate – even necessary – within the human family. Parents have the responsibility of direction, leadership, and control. For our children we want the broadest possible opportunity and freedom of choice. This can lead us into fundamental error. I picture the parent as standing in play by a pool table. The pockets of the pool table represent fundamental belief choices that confront human beings. A scattering of balls represent the children in the family. I hold that it is fundamental error when parents avoid putting their children in a pocket—to allow them, as it were, to remain scattered freely on the board—in this sense undirected and lost. The child needs direction as to what will lead to a meaningful, purposeful, and abundant life. The parent has a duty to seek the security for their children that can only be found in a safe pocket. Not all pockets are the same. In my view pockets of egocentrism or religious materialism offer phony security which leads eventually to disquiet and despair. Other pockets with diverse names share fundamental values necessary for a sense of purpose larger than self and more purposeful than toy acquisition. While giving the illusion of unbounded freedom, to be out of pocket is in truth a pyrrhic form of happiness. My prayer is that parents and all those who work with children assume their God-given responsibility and earnestly seek to direct children into safe pockets. Of course, not only children are scattered and lost. Adults vis-à-vis adults require more leading and less directing. When we find adults out of pocket, scattered and lost, may we pray for guidance and assistance in providing leadership to gracefully point the way to safe pockets. For those entrapped in pyrrhic pockets, may our hearts lie bleeding and broken and not harshly judgmental.

(My thanks to Angelo Lundy for the pool table metaphor.)





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