Dear All,
This Sunday our Gospel reading includes reference to children – ‘You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to children …’ so we thought we would focus on children and young people. One reflection has three excerpts from AA Milne. The Winnie the Pooh stories hold so much wisdom – maybe mainly stories for children, but wisdom in abundance for adults. There are numerous other quotes we could have chosen but maybe these will wet your appetite to re-read some bits.
‘A Child Loaned’ will be particularly poignant for anyone who has outlived their own child – so painful. It may be that you know someone grieving for their child that it might be appropriate to pass this on and there must be so many parents in Venezuela grieving at this time.
One of the hardest things about having children must be to watch them growing up & not necessarily living in the way a parent hopes for. ‘From Parent to Child’ may help with this.
Our blessing this week is the ‘Deep Peace’ from Keith Duke’s Sacred Pathways collection. Perhaps we can remember all the children who live around us in good or less good circumstances. We have heard a lot recently about the struggles children and young people are experiencing.
Love to each one of you
“I’ll lend you for a little time” is a poignant poem by Edgar Albert Guest that reflects on the temporary nature of life and the deep love between parents and their children.
“I’ll lend you for a little time,
A child of mine,” God said;
“For you to love the while he lives,
And mourn for when he’s dead.
It may be six or seven years,
Or twenty-two or three;
But will you, ’til I call him back,
Take care of him for me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you,
And should his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories
As solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay,
Since all from earth return;
But there are lessons taught down there
I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide world over
In my search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes
I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love
Nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate Me when I come to call
To take him back again?
I fancied that I heard them say,
“Dear Lord, Thy will be done!
For all the joy Thy child shall bring,
The risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness,
We’ll love him while we may,
And for the happiness we’ve known
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels call for him
Much sooner than we’ve planned,
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand.”
From AA Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories
Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly there is to be known.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
‘Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred’.
Pooh thought for a little.
‘How old shall I be then?’
‘Ninety-nine.’
‘I promise’, he said.
Still with his eyes on the world, Christopher Robin put out a hand and felt Pooh’s paw.
‘Pooh’, said Christopher Robin earnestly, ‘if I – if I’m not quite – ‘ he stopped and tried again – ‘Pooh, whatever happens, you will understand, won’t you?’
Understand what?’
‘Oh, nothing.’ He laughed & jumped to his feet.
‘Come on!’
‘Where?’ said Pooh.
‘Anywhere,’ said Christopher Robin.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I have a house where I go
When there’s too many people,
I have a house where I go
Where no one can be;
I have a house where I go,
Where nobody ever says “No”;
Where no one says anything—so
There is no one but me.
Solitude from ‘Now We Are Six’
From Parent To Child
I gave you life, but cannot live it for you.
I can teach you things, but I cannot make you learn.
I can give you directions, but I cannot be there to lead you.
I can allow you freedom, but I cannot account for it.
I can take you to church, but I cannot make you believe.
I can teach you right from wrong, but I cannot always decide for you.
I can buy you beautiful clothes, but I cannot make you beautiful inside.
I can offer you advice, but I cannot always decide for you.
I can give you love, but I cannot force it upon you.
I can teach you to share, but I cannot make you selfish.
I can teach you respect, but I cannot force you to show honour.
I can advise you about friends, but I cannot choose them for you.
I can advise you about sex, but I cannot keep you pure.
I can tell you the facts of life, but I cannot build your reputation.
I can tell you about drink, but I can’t say NO for you.
I can warn you about drugs, but I can’t prevent you from using them.
I can tell you about lofty goals, but I can’t achieve them for you.
I can teach you about kindness, but I can’t force you to be gracious.
I can warn you about sins, but I cannot make your morals.
I can love you as a child, but I cannot place you in God’s family.
I can pray for you, but I cannot make you walk with God.
I can teach you about Jesus, but I cannot make Jesus your Lord.
I can tell you how to live, but I cannot give you Eternal Life.
To Hear the Cry of a Child
Jonathan Sacks
What will future historians say when they look back at our time and wonder how we could solve so many scientific problems but not the darkness in the human heart. War is a deadly game played by adults whose innocent victims are children. Why? Because children don’t have the vote. They don’t write articles, make broadcasts, organize political parties. Because they trusted the adults of the world and we betrayed that trust.
There is a story of Rabbi Dov Baer, an 18th century scholar, who once at night was so intent on his studies that he failed to hear his baby crying. His father did hear and took his grandson from the cot and gently rocked him back to sleep. Then he went down to his son, still intent on his books, and said, ‘My son, I don’t know what you’re studying, but it isn’t holy if it makes you deaf to the cry of a child.