Another Election Day

Election Day 2014 in America is Tuesday, November 4, 2014.


Dear Readers:

You may remember that I first published a piece about Election Day in October, 2011. This piece contained the list of my son's concerns, as Election Day approached.

This year, my son is no longer a boy, he is now a young man in his mid-teens. I sat down with him recently, and asked him, What is on his mind this election season?

I asked him, what worries him the most?  His No. 1 concern is Ebola. I remember the day when he came home from school, and he announced, "Bad news. Ebola came to America." He was glum and irritable, and he would not discuss it further at that moment. But later, as he was getting ready for bed, he asked me, "Mommy? Am I going to get Ebola?"

I asked him about other concerns. He said, "That black boy in Missouri, who got shot by the police, when it seems like he did nothing wrong." He went on, "It seems like we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to treating black people right -- even after Martin Luther King."

I asked him about Pope Francis. He said, "He is the Christian for us all."

About a year ago, I sat knee to knee with my son, and told him what abortion is. I thought that he was old enough to start hearing about some of the most difficult subjects in life. He said, "Is this really legal?" Then, he began to cry. I asked him this year, "What about abortion?" He said, "It is awful, just awful."

We talked about violence. I know that he watches the news with me in the morning, while we eat breakfast. He sees the grainy footage from security cameras, showing crime victims being grabbed and taken away. He tells me that, when he and I shop in a "big box store",  he carries a small Swiss Army knife in his pocket, "just in case."

We have talked about seeing scantily- clad celebrities on TV, women who wear tiny, sexy outfits. He has witnessed this during Super Bowl half-time, for example. He says, "That is SO wrong! Now I can never un-see what I just saw!"

Another major concern of his is ISIS. He told me, "This is just like Hitler, only Hitler killed the Jews and ISIS is killing Christians!"  I asked him, "What should we do about this?" He said, "The first thing we do is, we get all the Christians out of there. Then, America can go in and really destroy ISIS and not harm the others."

I asked what he thought about a woman President of the United States. He said, "I don't think I am ready for that, yet."

I asked him what he thought of President Obama? He said, "I don't really pay attention to what the President is doing. But maybe I should start to pay more attention, since I will be able to vote in only a few more years."

I learned a lot from this conversation. What astounds me, first of all, is how aware my son is. A century or two ago, children were expected to be seen and not heard. Children were assumed to have no feelings, and to be blissfully unaware of what was going on around them.

I am not sure how much our assumptions about children have really changed? I often hear parents talking AT their kids as if they were family pets, "Sit down! Eat! Stay next to me! Be quiet!" How often do we sit at their level and really listen to what they have to say?

This Election Day, I challenge you to take time to talk WITH your kids, not AT them. Be the one to ask the questions, and then listen. Our children are a lot more aware than we think they are.

And what they say may just astound you!

[Related Posting, "Election Day", October 24, 2011].

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2014. All Rights Reserved.