-Disclaimer- please don’t make this post into a political, theological, or theoretical argument. If you disagree with some of the stuff I suggest to my kid you can take it up somewhere else. The point of this post is my wonderfully inquisitive child!
I had some great moments today, and they were all quite thematic. This morning somehow we ended up talking about Mother Teresa. He wanted to know more about this woman who spent her life helping people. Who did she help? Why does nobody like those people? What did she do? Then he asked me to tell him about another person like that. So I stayed with the India theme and told him about Gandhi. By the end of it we had discussed Desmond Tutu, MLK, Nelson Mandela, and Roy and Patty Kunkle.* Through discussing these people he ended up asking questions about slavery, why people don’t like other people, skin color, and peaceful resistance. We talked a lot about loving everybody and about peace. It was a great conversation.
Tonight somehow I found myself singing and dancing in the kitchen with both kids. We were singing the kids church song “I’m in the Lord’s army”**. After singing it a couple of times I was internally a bit uncomfortable because I’m not really into the whole militant Christianity thing, so I decided to clarify for Jones what we were singing about. First we talked about the definition of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Next we talked about the difference between the weapons that human armies use and the weapons that God gives us to fight with. At one point Jones says “Dad, we attack people with love…which means that we just love them a lot.” then I ask “but what if they’re mean to you? Isn’t it easier to hit them back?” and he says “No dad, I think I choose to love them anyway.” and then I throw down the kicker, “How about yesterday when mom made you angry?”
“I hit her”
“So it can be pretty hard sometimes huh?”
“Yes dad, but God wants us to make peace huh?”
“Yup. Even when it’s hard.”
We ended the night reading a book he has about Abraham Lincoln. The book talked about Lincoln’s fears about the nation being split, about losing the war, and about his passion to liberate all peoples. We talked some more about slavery…and then he went to bed.
Try to get the kid to do karate and he’ll quit after eight minutes. Talk to the kid about the struggle between good and evil, the struggle to wage a war of peace, and the challenge of loving your enemy and he’ll stick around all night! I love that kid.
* Roy and Patty spend lots of their time, energy, money, and vacation in Mexico. They work with the indigenous peoples and the local governments to build schools, play structures, homes, etc. They’re training indigenous workers, they’re now building childcare facilities, they’re making huge sacrifices and making a huge difference. I wanted Jones to realize that it’s not just far off people that give their lives fighting for hope, but even his best friend Zoi’s parents.
** The lyrics to this song are…
I may never march in the infantry
Ride in the cavalry
Shoot the artillery
I may never fly o’er the enemy
But I’m in the Lord’s army!
Yes Sir!
I’m in the Lord’s army!
Yes sir!
I’m in the Lord’s army!
Yes sir!