Thursday, January 19, 2017

MAKING LEMONADE















 With limited time left as a citizen of this world, I think about the quality of my grandchildren’s lives as I observe behavior around me. I remember many of my generation predicting the future would be effected by a few of the spoofs spewed into the rearing of our children, especially by Dr. Benjamin Spock. He told us how to make formula, bathe the baby, and provide first aide, but his parenting concepts led us astray. The “handwriting appeared on the wall,” and we ignored the warnings having been “weighed in the balances and found wanting” as did the King in Daniel 5.

The first of these spoofs is don’t “touch” your child as you discipline him. Reason with him per Dr. Spock. This resulted in undisciplined children acting-out in all phases of growing up.  A pat on the behind gets his attention so you CAN reason with him. Childhood discipline teaches the individual to respect authority, and he will soon learn there is always someone above him in rank. He will also learn that he can’t have everything he wants, and all actions have consequences. (Dr. Spock failed to point this out in his “child-rearing bible.” Spare the rod and spoil the child. (paraphrasing Proverbs 13:24). 

Of course, I don’t advocate beating or abusing a child, but misunderstanding the discipline of children is the number one blunder of the present day home. A wise parent determines what action best motivates his child to respond to discipline and consistently demands obedience and proper behavior. Children are like sponges; they soak up knowledge and the example of parents, and generally want to please a parent or guardian. Give them a warm, consistent, loving home, and they will respond with respect and maturity that will reward loving parents. (Proverbs 22:6). We are reaping the consequences of the post-war, supposedly peace-loving, passive generation of permissiveness that historically follows unfettered prosperity. 

The second spoof that poisoned parenting is don’t “isolate or recognize” individuals as they excel in talents whether it be in academics, sports, or the work place. Everyone deserves a reward. Example: when a child is an “A” student, don’t tell him where he stands beside his peers. Tell him his work is “Satisfactory.” When children play sports, give them all a trophy for participation; eliminate MVPs or any image of such distinction. Why should we be surprised when our college campuses are filled with young adults who expect everything handed to them and equal, equal, equal on every hand?  No competition – that’s unfair; everyone should be rewarded for participating, and these pampered youths rebuke any concept of restraint; they must be heard and sheltered, and they expect and demand a hand out instead of a hand up. 

We are NOT all alike with equal talents. And competition is mentally healthy. Why do we presume that our children will excel with well-rounded personalities when we fail to challenge or motivate them? How can we expect them to become mature adults when their mentors condone acts of rebellion and make excuse for their immaturity by providing them with “safe space and tiny furry things to quiet their fears?” What they need is to be ordered back into their classes to learn what it means to be a citizen of the greatest nation on the planet – liberty and freedom are costly and many have paid the ultimate price with their lives. Give them freedom and opportunity to weigh conflicting facts, but teach them to discern with wisdom. Perhaps another learning process would be to eliminate some of the luxuries they have come to expect, and I might add, demand. The greatest lesson on earth is to recognize the fact that we are duty-bound to change the things we CAN change, accept the things we CANNOT change, and have the WISDOM to know the difference.*

The third spoof hawked by our educators and political leaders is that “God” should be eliminated from everything. Because I’m a Christian conservative, I’m convinced much of the deterioration in our society is the absence of God in our homes, schools, and government.  When humanism controls our leaders, educational institutions, and homes, the urge to “do your own undisciplined thing” becomes embedded in our youth resulting in the rejection of moral values, misdirected patriotism, rejection of religion, suppression of individual thought, and the lack of motivation to excel. The champions of such ideals speak loudly about their concern for human rights, inequity, racism, and a list of such issues. However, they often just talk and DO nothing about these issues, while engaging in promoting numerous subversive activities designed to enslave the masses, resulting in widespread socialism and dictatorial government over the humanistic world. Are we (the USA) destined to join them?

Perhaps the latest election (2016) reflects the rejection of this humanistic ideology rather than the selection of a person to lead our country. Instead of complaining of the loud noise of the academic world parroting that religion and conservative ideology bears responsibility for all the ills of the earth’s population, we would be better served by reviewing our history (without editing out the chapters our present day educators don’t find supportive of their progressive agenda) and honestly accepting the fact that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat, and we should proclaim these facts at every opportunity.

These are my views as I surf the media, read the web, and reason for myself. Everything appears tilted, filtered, corrupt, and many live in denial of the facts and are blind to the truth that well-funded, silent proponents of globalism seek power to deny the democratic freedoms of our Republic. Each citizen must stay informed, research carefully recognizing truth is often elusive, and make your VOICE HEARD. Of course, I failed the political correctness exam. I use the pronoun “he, his, or him” instead of person or whatever applies in today’s literature. I resent being referred to as an ignorant, gun-toting, Bible-thumper who is clueless and uneducated. I make no apology for my 1950s education and philosophy.  I still read and believe my Bible, and I can relate to those who believe they need a gun. The streets are no longer safe. 

Our country faces difficult issues on every hand. However, history reveals we have always faced difficult problems and managed to seek and find solutions, and we always survive (no matter what pitfalls the presidential administrations dig up for us), but what do I know? I’m just an old lady trying to get into Heaven who believes we should appeal to God for strength to endure and optimistically march onward with the philosophy that  “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”**

* Paraphrasing the Prayer of Serenity, author, Reinhold Niebuhr
**Quote attributed to Elbert Hubbard in 1915 and later credited to Dale Carnegie in his 1948 writings.











































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