Second Wave Spirituality by Chris Saade

Author:Chris Saade [Saade, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-58394-780-7
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2014-05-19T16:00:00+00:00

10. Unconditionally Protective of All Children

Marian Wright Edelman is a contemporary African American leader who was very active during the civil rights movement and worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She valiantly championed the cause of children and in 1973 founded the Children’s Defense Fund. From its inception, the Children’s Defense Fund strongly requested the government and the people of the United States to improve policies and programs for children, especially those who are in dire need.

Edelman declared emphatically to the nation that if we do not stand up for children, we do not stand for much. She called forth for the best of our spirits by saying that however hard the fight for children’s welfare, we do not have the moral right to give up. Protecting children is not only a most noble value; it is the essence of love, the love for God and for our fellow human beings. No society can survive in the long run if it does not prioritize the health, education, and well-being of its children.

There is a mounting voice in the new wave of engaged spirituality asking us to take full responsibility for children of every race, nationality, religion, and socioeconomic status. As a loving family will protect all of its children unconditionally, so are we as a human family asked to take good care of all our children—unconditionally. No decent family would outcast some of its kids because of insufficient funds or to balance its budget! That would be unheard of! How can we as a human family not extend loving protection to all our children—unconditionally? Once our priorities are in harmony with the essential values of our spirituality, our minds will grow into the solutions needed to resolve the practical problems. Nothing brings more ingenuity to a parent than wanting to shield a challenged offspring. Nothing will make us more ingenious collectively than our commitment to truly leave no child hungry or shivering.

Love is not a luxury that we can afford only when we are satiated and financially well endowed. Love is the source of our best creativity and the wellspring of our genius. We become powerful as we allow love to guide us. We grow in abundance as we do the hard work to learn love’s ways. That is the divine promise, the covenant of life.

Within this new wave of engaged spirituality, we observe a great deal of endeavors aimed at protecting and providing for the children who are neglected, abandoned, abused, or victimized by poverty, violence, warfare, or environmental catastrophes. Loud are the voices asking us not to rest until all children are provided with adequate education, nutrition, and medical care. We cannot fully claim our humanity if we abandon our children. If we do not care enough to protect the children of our planet, how can we face God with our prayers? If we continue turning our backs on our children’s needs, we trample the message of love at its core. What we need is a reorientation of our priorities and a deep knowing that we are all our children’s keepers.

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