The World Was Younger Than Today

In the years before Covid19, we had the good fortune to celebrate Father’s Day with my son and his family.  The day was always made more special because it coincided with 2 June birthdays. Now, post Covid, we were able to celebrate in person again, although the children are no longer children; all,except on is in his/her 20’s. And their issues are far more complex now.  Although it was only four years ago, it seemed so long ago and far way and the world was much younger than today. 

As the proverbial “fly on the wall,” I  enjoyed listening to their repartee and marveled as to how well this all turned out. I realized that I became a better parent when I became a grandfather. As a grandparent I am more a spectator than an active participant and have the luxury of being able to sit back and observe how these scenes of life  all play out. Sure, I know some of the challenges my son and daughter-in-law face in rearing children are the same as the ones we and our parents faced, but the world and our culture are more complex today and the pressures on parents to manage these challenges are greater than the ones we faced. Our parents never faced Covid19 and the challenges that this dreaded virus has heaped on young families. The book has yet to be written but somehow it seems that it is all working out and that whatever changes that had to be made were made with insight and intuition and by the seat of our pants. 

As a “spectator” I am in awe as to how our son and daughter-in-law work through the endless issues that pop up on a daily, if not hourly basis, and I ask myself, “when did they learn to do all that; where did they pick up all the skills to handle this? I don’t think I would have done it as well.” I have learned so much about parenting in watching them and while it makes me feel good to think that there may be some imprinting going on, they are far ahead of where I was then.  

Life, wrote Kierkegaard, can only be understood backwards.  But it  can only be lived going forward.  

We see ourselves in our children almost as if we were watching an old home movie or looking in a mirror. Wouldn't it be great if we could see our lives and ways of relating to others play out in the life of Jesus? Every day we strive to be Jesus’ surrogates in all that we do. We don’t always succeed although being aware of when we slip is part of the journey.

Our task (Matthew 10: 37-42) is to consciously attend to the Christ in everyone. Christ in the stranger. Christ in the enemy. Christ in the friend. Christ in the spouse. Christ in our siblings. Christ in the politician who makes our blood boil. Christ in the disenfranchised. Christ in the “others.”