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THE FUTURE OF
FAMIIYLIFE
Family futurists are coming up
with all types of terms to de–
scribe alternatives to the tradi–
tipnal family unit. Words like
" progressive monogamy," "in–
timate networks," "pairings,"
"student marriages" are con–
tinually coined to describe all
kinds of new "living arrange–
ments."
Homosexual liaisons, com–
munal families , group mar–
riages, "pair-bound" arrange–
ments, etc. are being taken
up as alternatives by an in–
creasing number of young peo–
ple today.
But in the long run, biblical
revelation assures us that the
family has a brilliant, glowing
future on this earth. lndeed, the
extended family has a vital and
permanent place in terms of the
future of human life-not be–
cause of the efforts of man, but
primarily due to a loving and
compassionate Creator who or–
dained the family unit in the first
place.
Notice a specific prophecy
about the fabulous future of the
family. "Thus says the Lord: 1
will return to Zion, and will
dwell in the midst of Jerusalem·,
and Jerusalem shall be called
the faithful city . . . . Old men
and old women shall again sit
in the streets of Jerusalem,
each with staff in hand for very
age. And the streets of the city
shall be full of boys and girls
playing in its streets" (Zech.
8:3-5, RSV).
The growing gulf between
parents and children is going to
be filled up and the generation
gap permanently closed! Ma–
lachi even describes a foretaste
of this utopian condition now in
our present age: "Behold, 1will
send you Elijah the prophet be–
fore the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and
the heart of the children to their
fathers ..." (Mal. 4:5-6).
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977
interchange between family mem–
bers-the way they treat each other,
the way they react one to the other–
is far more delicate and sensitive
than the carefully engineered sys–
tems of a sleek jet airplane.
This
is
the family landscape- up
to now the one sanity-preserving
constant in human affairs.
You see, all life begins with a
small germ, a seed, or life-giving
sperm cell. Thus a butterfly lays
eggs; the eggs become larvae, the
larvae become pupae, and the
pupae batch into other butterflies.
Bean seeds germinate and become
bean stalks; the stalks bloom and
flower and produce stiU more bean
seeds. The new seeds in turn pro–
duce more stalks, ad infinitum.
All life is cyclical. Boys and girls
mature and they marry. They en–
gender children, who also mature
and marry.
Practically all life is maJe and fe–
male. But among all the creation,
roan alone marries. Why? Simply
because human beings are not
equipped with animal instinct, but
with mind. Baby animals automati–
cally, through instinct, take their
place in the animal kingdom. But
infant humans must be taught
everything they come to know. This
vital teaching and training of chil–
dren is only one of the many rea–
sons why God established the
marital state- the borne and the
family.
We begin life as infant children;
we mature and eventually take our
leave from the parental nest; we
continue the birth process with our
own children. Then they repeat the
cycle aU over again. This process has
continued since creation. But some–
thing very disturbing has been oc–
curring within the family cycle in
the twentieth century.
Reports Charles F. Geiger, super–
visor of family and youth services
for Catholic social services in De–
troit: "Each generation seems to be
getting less nurturing and support
from the family. Babies are not
given the intimate attention they
need. . . . And these children grow
up to become parents who don't
nurture their own infants."
Parents just don't seem inclined
to educate their children anymore!
Far too many are caught up in a
whirlwind of work, social or enter–
tainment activities to have much
time or energy left for their off–
spring. After all, there are in–
stitutions to take care of these kids.
There are day-care centers, play
groups and preschools made up of a
host of family interlopers who are
paid
to educate, supervise and' play
with children. These people often
spend far more time with kids than
parents do. But their brand of care
is more passive than active, since
the children are not really their own
ftesh and blood.
In practica! fact , education has
long since been taken away from the
family and vested in various types
of institutions. No wonder so many
of our children are living aimless,
wandering lives, alienated from
their families and relying instead on
cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol.
No wonder so many preteens are
the helpless victims of rotten child
molesters.
So wíth each succeeding genera–
tion, parental infiuence · is dimin–
ished that mu ch more. Today
parenting is a dying art.
It
is per–
haps at its lowest point in all of
history.
Today children do not look to
lheir families for guidance. Instead,
they look mainly to their peer
group, perhaps secondarily to their
teachers, then television (parents'
favorite baby-si tter) and sadly,
bringing up the rear, moro and dad.
The major trends affecting the
American family unit are not en–
couraging. Yet your family doesn't
need to fall victim to this national
disintegration. You · can swirn up–
stream and break this vicious cycle.
I have to admire President Jimmy
Carter's emphasis on the American
family; his admonition to his aides
to shore up their family lives in spite
of enormous job pressures; his ur–
ging of government officials to opt
for marriage rather than just living
together. 1 oot only applaud his ef–
forts, I have a few suggestions to
add myself.
1) Be a Famlly
Families sirnply don't live as fam–
ilies enough. How many millions of
families sit before the television
by
the
hours- oftentimes even in–
cluding mealtimes- with hardly a
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