Faith is the ability to believe in something which is intangible. It is something you cannot touch or see. Nevertheless you still believe. Religion and children has been a topic that has been debated a lot. The separation of church and state disallows children from saying a prayer in schools. Regardless as to anything else, teaching children about religion from an early age is important.
Today, more than ever before, our world is constantly changing. The violence has grown to unprecedented proportions, and our children have seen the effects of this violence on TV, and up close and personal during the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. Still, faith has been the overriding factor which has seen us through even the worst of times.
Regardless of your religious affiliation, teaching children about faith is important. Whether saying prayers before and after each meal, attending services every week or saying their bedtime prayers, we must not only be concerned about our child’s physical well-being, but we must be concerned about their spiritual well-being as well. Without faith, we become lost. Without prayer, there is no hope.
“On September 11th, I was working at my desk in a public school. We could see smoke emanating from the Twin Towers from a corner classroom. The children could see it as well. All we could do is cry and pray at the same time. The children were scared beyond belief and all we could do is cry out: ‘Oh God’ over and over. When the second plane hit the tower, we continued to invoke His name.”
The children went home to be comforted by their their parents but there is not a lot that a parent can say to a child who has witnessed such devastation. No doubt children may have asked why God allowed this to happen. The conversations between the parents of every child in that school continued for months. Surely, prayers were said every night for those who lost their loved ones. One can only imagine how fearful these kids were. But conveying to them all those people are now in heaven must have been comforting. It was not God’s fault, it was the fault of man.
All around the world, on that day, religion and children of all faiths became locked in prayer. The lessons learned from this tragedy were many. Whether reading from the Bible, attending services or simply explaining the difference between love and hate, it was a lesson we all learned from that day. We are still learning, praying, and hoping it never happens again.
Keep religion and its tenets in your family. Keep faith alive because it really does make a difference.
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