Children as Mirror

Written by Michael Fones

Monday, 27 August 2007 15:07

An old friend from my first ministerial assignment, Rob Drapeau, has a blog called, "The Natalist Diaries". He describes it as a sort of field journal of his domestic safari. He and his wife Amy have five children under the age of eight, so I suppose there is a fair share of wildness within the walls of their home. He has a wonderful post titled "of hooks and mirrors," that chronicles a recent nightmare of his oldest, and here's the punchline (the Queen, by the way, is Amy, his wife): "What amazes me is that as crazy as my kids can be, they always hold a mirror to my own irrationality. It seems each of our kids embodies some of the good and bad traits of Mama and Papi. This makes for a pretty entertaining home life, but it also serves as looking glass for the Queen and me to see our own faults and strengths." It takes a lot of insight to realize this, and then courage to keep looking at our kids in such a way as to see our own foibles. Good friends, especially spiritual friends, can do the same, albeit a bit more directly. If we're willing to listen and see, that is.