The folly of being young, ignorant and arrogant
Min Atek
What you need to know:
So the other day, I had this conversation with a child, who was home briefly because he has exams coming up
The folly of being young, ignorant and arrogant
“Child for sale,” the playful placard read. ‘Take one and get two for free.” I read the placard several times and remembered a TV personality who shared his experience of how he stayed home for three weeks and how those were the worst moments of his life, when he welcomed his set of twins.
He mentioned that he has seven children and that there are times when he has not liked any one of them. If there is something that can test anyone’s patience, it is raising children. If there is anything that can stretch one’s goodwill, it is parenting.
So the other day, I had this conversation with a child, who was home briefly because he has exams coming up. To get him to appreciate this reality, he had one challenging task. After explaining myself severally, I felt exasperated and decided to stop talking. In that moment, I could have raised a placard saying “child for sale. Pay nothing, I will pay you to take him.”
I recount my childhood days and the frustration my mother had with me. I remember her threatening to get me out of school. I remember how she said, “where I am is where you will be soon.”
Parenting pays us back for the very things we made our parents go through. Children test our patience, our endurance, our beliefs and values and they remind us of our own short-sightedness. We are reminded to be humble as the wisdom of age descends upon us.
In knowing, we are alarmed by the foolishness of our growing children, who remind us of ourselves. There are things children will only understand from hindsight.
So we talk to them repeatedly, earnestly, hoping that we can get them to see better and do better. Unfortunately, they cannot comprehend and, they too, must go through their own falling down to appreciate life.
So, we pray for them. That in their foolishness, they will not fall too hard and that the wounds they get shall heal and be a reminder that indeed wisdom is the principal thing.
We pray for God’s loving protection to shield them from themselves and from the folly of the madness of being young, ignorant and arrogant.
We all need prayers. The parents need the prayers and the children need the prayers. May we survive the times and seasons when we have not yet learnt to live with the other’s strengths and weaknesses.
May we not sell each other in the process. But is there a willing buyer anyway?
