Mary and Joseph with their young son Jesus are travelling to Jerusalem with extended family. Across centuries of such family trips two essentials are conveyed; enjoy and stay safe. We genuinely mean the first one but usually in the context of the second one. Safety tends to be paramount and thus we say to children, mind your parents. In one sense, it turns out the young Jesus has not minded his parents, for safety’s sake; he is lost – not to be found on the return trip among family and friends. In another sense, young Jesus has minded his parents, for enjoyment’s sake; he is found back in Jerusalem engaging with teachers and thinkers.
Having children mind their parents is not always for bodily safety. For much of history it was for burdensome mimicking. Still today we have tinges of wanting our children to mind us for ego’s sake, to reflect well on us. We might even raise them to benefit us in the prestige of their career or marriage. Having children mind their parents can also be for enjoyment’s sake as Jesus shows when engaging with the teachers and thinkers. Mary and Joseph have apparently minded their son with freedom of thought and creative reflection. How do we as parents mind our children? As important, how do we heart them? Clearly something has gone so very wrong in the mind and heart of any adult and any nation that wants to mind and heart children by confining them in border prisons. As the old year gives way to the new, so too minds and hearts confined by old values of conformity and confinement need to give way to new virtues of creativity and joy. This is especially true for children and can be experienced in the Farm School movement. Something goes so very right for children when their minds and hearts are shaped in the creativity and joy of nature. Children are put in touch with creation’s beauty, vitality, and even its dying and returning to birth again. Farm Schools nurture children through hands on learning in such activities as gardening, cooking, and the care of small animals. Food raised by the children on the farm is then brought directly into school cafeterias where its nutritious healthiness replaces processed foods that lack it. Children are energized for a whole new way of living. Something also goes so very right for children when their minds and hearts are shaped in intergenerational living. In 1976 in Japan, Shimada Masaharu first had the idea to house a pre-school inside a nursing home. His idea has been repeated across the world many times. The joy across ages is changing the minds and hearts of everyone involved. Older persons and children are being energized for a whole new way of living. It is a compassionate way of living in which we learn to mind each other and heart each other too.
“Said the little boy, ‘Sometimes I drop my spoon.’ Said the old man, ‘I do that too.’ The little boy whispered, ‘I wet my pants.’ ‘I do that too,’ laughed the little old man. Said the little boy, ‘I often cry.’ The old man nodded, ‘So do I.’ ‘But worst of all,’ said the boy, ‘it seems Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.’ And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand. ‘I know what you mean,’ said the little old man.” (The Little Boy and The Old Man – Shel Silverstein)
Prayer: Spirit, may we advance in wisdom and age, for ourselves and for all.
Question: How am I minding and hearting the children in my care?
December 30, 2018 Gospel Luke 2:41-52 Feast of the Holy Family