One of the most valuable gifts parents can give their children is a home filled with peace and love.
It doesn’t cost money. It doesn’t take any more time out of your schedule. It doesn’t require more trips to events.
It’s simple and straightforward.
When a child walks through the front door of their house, they should walk into the most peaceful place on earth, a place where they feel loved and wanted, valued and cherished. A place they want to be.
It might take work to create this atmosphere of love because many families allow strife and conflict to reside within the walls of their home. And the parents often don’t realize how harmful their anger, resentment and selfishness is on the outlook and developing attitudes of their young ones. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Selfishness can be replaced with unselfishness, resentment with forgiveness, apathy with care, hatred with love, stinginess with generosity, and grudges with goodwill.
Home is meant to be a place of safety and protection, especially for children. Not just safety from hail and rain outside, but protection from dark evil thinking on the inside.
Home should be a sanctuary of love, a place where family members care for each other, understand one another and want the best for everyone. It should be a place filled with thoughtfulness, compassion, respect, harmony, forgiveness, peace and charity, a place where children are exposed to the finest aspects of God, not the worst aspects of the carnal mind.
Your message is so wise and true, Evan. One of my Grandsons is married to a dear, gentle young woman who lets her two children know constantly that they are valued members of the family and they know this fact though are only five and one and a half years old
If one child gets upset over a small disagreement their mum or dad is always there to embrace them tenderly and together they reason through the happening until harmony reigns again. This method of child-rearing is resulting in a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere. .
Absolutely !! The Ideal !! The best investment for purposeful lives, of kids and joy for parents.
Mr. Fred Rogers worked to create this climate of confident love.
And yet where that climate of peace is absent, there are many other un-met needs.
In many ways “it takes a village context to raise a loving child, and family”, and many parents can’t afford that kind of neighborhood. And many parents who never had a model of supportive parenting are striving to pioneer what that means. (See recent article “Can Parenting Be Taught?” in The Christian Science Monitor). You describe a noble goal which public policy should nurture. And church and Sunday School and camps can actively & prayerfully amplify.
What a precious message. Children need to have a sanctuary that is loving and peaceful. Well, as a matter of fact don’t we all! 😀 Thank you for taking up this important subject.
Dear Even! This is a HUGE subject, and so vital to the health of…everyone and everything on this…planet—children and adults (parents or not) alike. There are many, many references in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, as well as in the Bible, of course, on this topic.
As a single Mom of three young ones, years ago, I well know what it takes to guard and guide the thoughts and experiences of children. With Christian Science to guide me, I am so very grateful to be able to say: Success!! Now with nine grandchildren, our family continues to be very involved with this work, this joyful work! And it is…working!! We are a happy loving group! Thank you, Truth!!
And thank you, Evan and SpiritView commenters, for your thoughts and prayers on this subject.
:<)))))
My parents were saints in bringing me up. I was born with Cerebral Palsy, told by the medical profession to put me into an institution and let me die there. And in those days, 1936, Doctors were regarded as God. Don’t ever question their diagnose. They were beyond making a mistake. My parents didn’t follow their advice and I grew up having a joyful profession in the entertainment field, married and now I have a grandson. My parents divorced in my adult years never be known to me of their marriage problems.
Keeping the peace in my home, when my children were young, was a constant battle. The parents were anything but peaceful and the stresses of work , finances, etc. ate away at the peace. But my husband and I who were not getting along decided one thing we agreed upon was the home should be peaceful and for that value, no matter how we did it, we could work toward the goal of true peace at home.
I found something a mother had written that she had hung in her hallway entrance to her home for her family to read. With a little tweaking , since she was from another culture, I took this essay and tailored it for my home. I framed it and set it on the table in our entranceway. The essay talked about peace, mutual respect, and unconditional love for all in our home. I don’t know how many people outside our family stopped to read it but all of us in our family read it at least once. But just seeing it there was reminder enough of its message. One of my children who has a young family asked for a copy recently.
My parents each sang a lot in my childhood. Happy songs, from movies and such. They weren’t particularly good singers, but it helped a lot to create a happy home.
And it’s not too late to create that loving safe environment, even if the kids are long gone.
Love, Love, Love, and more Love; love, love, love, and more love.
All voices are in sync.
Thank you, Evan.