And how are the children...
By Rev. Dr. Terrill Murff, CRS Board Member
Some of you are familiar with the intelligent African tribe called the Maasai. These fearsome and mighty warriors have a tradition of greeting one another by asking: "Kasserian Ingera"...which means...
"And how are the children?"
It is still the traditional greeting among the Maasai, acknowledging the high value that the Maasai always place on their children's well-being. Even warriors with no children of their own would always give the traditional answer, "All the children are well." Meaning, of course, that peace and safety prevail, that the priorities of protecting the young, the powerless, are in place. That Maasai society has not forgotten its reason for being, its proper functions and responsibilities. "All the children are well" means that life is good. It means that the daily struggles for existence do not preclude proper caring for their young.
I wonder how it might affect our collective consciousness of our own children's welfare, if in our daily existence, we would greet each other with this daily question: "And how are the children?" I wonder, if we heard that question and consciously passed it along to each other a couple times a day, if it would begin to make a difference in the reality of how children are thought of, and cared about in our own households, communities, cities and beyond?
I wonder what our households, communities and townships would be like, if every adult, every parent and non-parent alike, felt an equal weight for the daily care and protection of all the children in our community, in our town, in our state, in our country.
I wonder...if we began every worship service by answering the question, "And how are the children?" what would be our response?
The truth of the matter is that... the children are NOT well!
The Church has a responsibility to nurture and care for the vulnerable amongst us! What can we (each church) start to do, to create peace and safety (to protect the young and powerless) as we approach the start of a new school year?
I wonder what our households, neighborhoods, communities, cities and beyond would look like if we could truly say without any hesitation, "The children are well, yes, all the children are well."
I wonder...
Originally published by the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ.