Americas Generation of Peacemakers are dying Breed

Yesterday, the wife and I were talking about the shootings in Dallas and she said something that got me to thinking and something that had never occurred to me.  She mentioned how our generation and the generation before us used to exercise the art of peacemaking.  She remarked that those of us who sought peace first would always be the first responders to any crisis and begin immediately to look for a peaceful solution to the issue.  We never waited until it was too far gone and we never stopped to pose for a picture or camera while doing it.  She mentioned how we would always try to find the common ground before racing toward the high ground.  She then said something that made me sit up in my chair; she asked if possibly our generation and those before who sought peace first was a dying breed.

I got to thinking more and more about what she asked and this morning came to a conclusion.  Many of us who had and have children wanted to raise them to question everything and not just sit back and accept anything.  This was supposed to help them to make more sensible and rational decisions as they grew older.  This was supposed to protect them from tricksters and scammers and make them safer.  This may not have been exactly what we had in mind because many of us quit teaching our children at home after they demonstrated the ability to question.  This ability began when they felt free to question their parents and while they should ask us the billions of questions that they have for no other reason than we to rest assured that they got the best answers, it spilled over into everyday life for them.  Now they questioned strangers and most importantly authority.  Instead of choosing which battles to fight at which time, they now see it as a rite of passage to question at the most inappropriate moments.  This urge drives those being questioned into defense mode and what was a simple search for knowledge has now turned into a battle of wills and often a battle to the death.  If this was not the outcome we expected by teaching our children to question then we need to re-think this approach and add a simple option by helping them to understand when and where to best question.

When you are pulled over by a police officer or approached by anyone in authority, there should only be one question asked and that is why you are being pulled over or approached.  If that question goes unanswered after you are sure that they heard it, that ends your questioning period until you arrive safely in a court of law or in the presence of others who may serve as unbiased witnesses to the rest of your encounter.  Surely we can add this option without infringing on the rights of others or diminishing the desire to protect our children.  There may be several options out there that may create the same results and we do so owe it to our children to search and find one that will work for us and our family.

I recall the singing group Earth, Wind and Fire with a song called “That’s the Way of the World” where they say that a child is born with a heart of gold but it’s the way of the world that turns their hearts so cold.  Questioning is fine but like most there is a proper place and time for it.  Speaking to your children and committing to a little “home-training” may be the best weapon to keeping your children hearts of gold and not letting it grow cold.  Doing this may just create a new generation of peacekeepers and peacemakers for if we are the Christian nation we claim to be we must remember that it is written “blesseth are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God”.