WE DO OUR BEST AND THEN PRAY

     In a few days there will be lots of little children walking and running around the halls, singing and dancing and making crafts and learning a little more about who they are, about life, about God. Vacation Bible School is upon us. This year our grandson Zachary will be part of the mix.

     As I think about him and about all the children who will be part of this week, my mind wanders off into the future. What will become of him, of them? And for some reason as I think about all these little ones, my mind goes to Calvary and the three crosses and the three men hanging from them each in the throes of death. Young men each, lives cut short for whatever reason. And at the foot of each cross watching her son die were the mothers of each of these men.

     In our Christian devotion we always remember and sometimes reflect on Mary, Jesus’ mother, and the pain and agony she endured as she watched her innocent son die an excruciating and horrible death. She did not know why this was happening to her son and she must have wondered if she could have done anything to have prevented it. Perhaps she even wondered if she had done something wrong somewhere along the way that somehow made it happen.

     But those same thoughts must have been going through the hearts and minds of the other two mothers as well. They truly believed that they had been good mothers. They and their husbands had raised their children well, taught them right from wrong, been good examples, had they not? They did not deliberately do anything that would make their sons believe that criminal activity was acceptable, had they? So where had they gone wrong? What more could they have done to have saved their sons this terrible fate? It was too late now, they knew. But they could not help but somehow blame themselves for having failed their sons.

     They didn’t fail and we as parents don’t either, not deliberately anyway. When our daughters were growing up, especially when they were teenagers, they were absolutely convinced that we had it in for them. They were certain that we were out to get them, and they told us so. We tried to assure them that we did not get up every morning with the intention of making their lives miserable that day. We really did want the very best for them whether they believed it or not.

     That is not to say that we were perfect parents or that any parent is perfect. No one is. We all make mistakes in parenting. It is to say that we honestly try our best to do the best we can, be the best parents we can, all the while knowing that even our best sometimes may not be good enough.

     And so we pray, just as Mary prayed, just as the parents of the other two men prayed. We pray that God will protect them and keep them safe. We pray that our children will forgive any failures and shortcomings on our part and that our children will someday realize they were not deliberate – which realization, however, may only come when they have children of their own.                                                                                        WJP