The Divine Within There are many ways to twist a child’s soul. We can neglect children, hit them, make fun of them, demand perfection from them, expect them to take care of us, deny their pain, discount their emotions, hold them responsible for our feelings, bear grudges against them, insist on obedience rather than kindness, and treat them as possessions instead of seeing them as real, human, divine. A Hindu fable tells of a time when every person was a god. People abused their divinity, however, so Brahma decided he would have to hide their god-ness someplace it could never be found. Yet where could he put this divinity so…
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Fathers and Our Values
The Importance of Fathers Fathers are important. Not only must they help bring children into the world, but how they interact with their children appears to have much to do with how those children feel about themselves, how they behave in the world, and how successful they are at life. I say “appears,” because fathers are only one influence in a child’s life. We are also formed by our genes, other family members, media, school, friends, religious communities, and more. Nonetheless, studies do show benefits from having a father in the house, especially one who is supportive, nurturing, and fair. Mothers offer much that fathers do, but mothers and fathers…
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Living Our Values
Ideology Versus Compassion To live our values, we must first figure out what values we want to live by. Religions can guide us in that as long as we are careful not to adhere rigidly to any system of beliefs. In The Song of the Bird, author and priest Anothony de Mello reminds us that it is dangerous to to make a rule-bound religion out of spiritual truths. In the story, “Bayazid Breaks the Rule,” de Mello tells about a time, during the month of Ramadan, when Bayazid was traveling and teaching. He reaches a town in Iran where his worshipers rushed to greet him. They made a big stir. Weary…
