Article September 11, 2000 Issue

Better parenting through prayer

God nurtures children and parents alike.

Barbara Beth Whitewater

You're out shopping and your toddler is having a tantrum under a rack of clothing. You have a house full of company and your teenager chooses that moment to tell you what a lousy parent you are. Many people react to situations like these feeling that they have failed to be a perfect parent, particularly when the same dramas continue to repeat themselves, no matter how many times they've tried to reason with their child. Well, the good news is that we all have someone to call on for help: the one perfect Parent, our Father-Mother God.

The writings of Mary Baker Eddy provide this comforting truth: "It may be that the mortal life-battle still wages, and must continue till its involved errors are vanquished by victory-bringing Science; but this triumph will come! God is over all. He alone is our origin, aim, and being. The real man is not of the dust, nor is he ever created through the flesh; for his father and mother are the one Spirit, and his brethren are all the children of one parent, the eternal good" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 22).

How does this translate into practical solutions? It tells us that when we keep our thoughts calm when confronted with difficulties, we'll hear God giving us comforting and useful ideas so that we can think and act in the most beneficial way for all concerned. And we'll stop feeling a false sense of responsibility that burdens our children as well as ourselves.

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