Kentucky River
Vol V, No. 2
March 1979
1979,
Editorial REVEREND RALPH BEITING THE YEAR OF THE CHILD From the banks of the East River in low er Manhattan the U nited Nations has declared 1979 as the year of the child. We are asked to concentrate on this important mem ber of the human family during this entire year. I feel that outside of calling attention to the entire family, no better emphasis could be placed anywhere than on the importance of the child. A man wrote on one occasion that a child is G od’s sign that he is still in love with the human race. There is an affirmation in the birth of a child. If the human family is worthwhile, then the hopes and dreams that it entertains can one day be reached and the diffi culties solved. A child says among other things that there is no need to fear for the future, that no matter *how dim or bleak the present may be that man with God's grace can still prevail and overcome. A child is the renewal o f that hope for the future.
CHILD YEAROF THE In times of great material em phasis children are frequently over looked and often considered a bur den. A visitor with even a casual observation detects in our society today a real distrust of children. First of all, we feel we should not have very many of them. We are led to believe that in some fashion if we have too many of them they can burden our world and endanger the well being of us all. There is something tragically wrong about such a view . Things have never made the world a better place and things have never made a man smile. They have never made him laugh or turn and give a helping hand to his neighbor. Only people can make this world better. Only people can make our family happy. We do not need fewer children, but better cared for children, better loved children, better disciplined children. The horrible tragedy of abor tion stalks our land in almost every hamlet and village. The number of those that we kill each year now has climbed past the million mark. Those who have counseled the fam ilies that have experienced abortion know the regret and guilt that they feel for years afterwards. A t the moment, it seemed perhaps a wise thing to do but as years are added on to their experience they realize that they have snuffed out a human life that perhaps could have made a good deal of difference to the rest of the world. We see on every side the growing tragedy of child abuse. If a child interferes with the needs and
wants of the family or with its peace and quiet, frequently he is beaten, he is kicked and he is shut out. Children are not an ordinary addition to the human family. They are not cheap. They demand a great deal of time and energy. But there is no place where the human contribution to society is better re paid than the attention and the love we expend on our children. This love should not be a permissive thing that allows them to have whatever they want. It should be true love which means that it is disciplined, that it is given freely and yet demands that the love be used wisely. If we can utilize this year of the child well, we shall all be better because of it. Prayer, kindness, charity and patience are virtues that are hard to come by. But they are so vitally needed in the care and handling of children. We all need to make an in vestment this year not merely in stocks and bonds or land or housing, but in children. Allow them to be. Nurture them with love. Guide them with discipline and they shall be the crow ning glory o f us all.