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Eye on the World: a spiritual model for parenting
Parenting issues have been in the headlines quite a bit lately. With the proliferation of smartphones and iPads and other tablets, there’s a healthy debate about how much time, if any, parents should allow their kids to spend with these devices (to say nothing of the privacy issues involved). In California, a bill is pending which tries to simplify custody in cases where more than two adults figure prominently in a child’s life. And weeks of discussion have sprung up in the wake of an opinion article in The Atlantic that argues eloquently about the difficulties women face in trying to pursue professional careers while also being involved in their kids’ lives.
For parents – or anyone interested in supporting responsible parenting – it’s comforting to learn more of God’s tender relationship with His creation. In a very real way, God provides the perfect model of fathering and mothering care, and each one of us reflects and expresses that perfect parenting model.
“For parents,” an article from The Christian Science Journal, offers a helpful spiritual basis for approaching all sorts of parenting issues, from behavioral challenges to emotional crises. The author shares his experience raising a son and explains how turning to prayer “to understand more of God’s loving control over the whole family” brought clarity and stability to his role as a father. This doesn’t mean conceiving of God as a distant authority figure and then ceding parenting duties to Him. Quite the opposite -- a spiritual perspective brings parents and children closer together, promotes healthy affection, and provides a strong, loving foundation from which to make family decisions.
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