Article June 22, 1998 Issue

for teens

"Honor" my parents? Get real!

By Seaward B. Grant

To say my childhood years were filled with trials is an understatement. From the word go, my family and I moved from one place to another, like a ship without a star. My dad had a hard time holding down jobs. Alcoholism and mental abuse added to my family's difficulties.

Not until many years later was I given a statement that helped me better understand and actually appreciate something of my childhood years. This statement from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy as helped me a great deal. It reads, "Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man" (p. 256). This truth made me realize that, although I have a mom and dad who raised me, my true Father and Mother is and always has been God. This comforted me greatly.

The Fifth Commandment tells us, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Ex. 20:12). I wanted to heal the bitterness I felt toward my parents. But how could I when I had very little respect and compassion for them? I turned to God to know how to do this. The answer I received through prayer was that I needed first to understand what it really means to love.

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